When Your Child Is Diagnosed with DIABETES: PARENTS’ QUESTIONS for the Health Care Team
Parents of children with diabetes often have concerns about the disease, its impact on their family, and how to keep their children safe and healthy. Use these questions to talk with your child’s health care team and learn about your child’s diabetes care needs… at diagnosis and later on as well. The links provided below each question have background information about the topic in question to help you prepare for your child’s health care team visit.
What are the different types of diabetes?
- Which type of diabetes does our child have?
- Will it ever go away?
- Will my child with type 1 diabetes always have to take insulin?
What kind of diabetes do you have?
How Are Children Especially Affected by Diabetes?
What are my child’s treatment goals?
- How can we help our child meet these goals?
- How often will our child need to visit you each year?
Living with Diabetes: For Parents and Kids
Diabetes in Teens (See the tip sheets in English and Spanish about being active, staying at a healthy weight, making healthy food choices, and dealing with the ups and downs of diabetes.)
Who should be part of my child’s health care team and what role does each team member play in the care of my child?
- How do we contact them?
- What are their hours?
Transitions from Pediatric to Adult Health Care Website (See Find a Physician, Diabetes Educator, Dietitian, or Education Program and Visits to an Adult Care Physician)
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (See Visiting the Health Care Team)
How can we work together as a family to help our child?
- How can we help our child check blood glucose, take insulin or other medication, eat healthy foods, be more active, and learn about diabetes?
- Who can help us work together as a family?
Help a Loved One with Diabetes
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (See Helping Children and Adolescents Manage Diabetes)
Diabetes HealthSense (Select ‘Child’ or ‘Teen and young adult’ from the ‘Age’ drop-down menu)
What emotional issues might our child and family face?
- Will diabetes affect the way our child behaves?
- When do we start letting our child manage his/her own diabetes care?
- Who can help us cope with these issues?
Tips for Teens with type 2 Diabetes: Dealing with the Ups and Downs of Diabetes
Learn about age-related issues and diabetes
Learn about reactions to being diagnosed with diabetes
Help Planning Your Transition (Click on Emotional Health)
Should we tell friends and family about our child’s diabetes?
Who can help us if we don’t have medical insurance?
Financial Help for Diabetes Care: State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
Insure Kids Now! A national initiative to linking families to low-cost insurance programs
Health Insurance for Uninsured Children
Medicaid’s Children’s Health Insurance Program
Transitions from Pediatric to Adult Health Care Website (See Health Insurance)
What resources are there to help our child in school?
Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel
Helping Your Child Manage Diabetes at School
Transitions from Pediatric to Adult Health Care Website (See Type 1 Diabetes in College and Diabetes Education and Self-Care)
What does this mean for other members of our family?
- Does it mean our other children will get diabetes too?
- What about other family members?
Family Health History and Diabetes
Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Your Family
Tips for Kids: How to Lower Your Risk for Type 2 Diabetes
What is Diabetes?
(See What Treatments Exist for Type 1 Diabetes?)
Overview of Diabetes in Children and Adolescents (See Predicting Type 1 Diabetes)
What research is going on?
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) conducts and supports a wide range of research aimed at finding ways to prevent and treat diabetes and its health complications. Several large national and international studies are under way through NIDDK and other groups.
DirecNet
The National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research
The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth
TEDDY: Consortiums to identify The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young
The TODAY study
Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet is a group of studies looking at ways to prevent type 1 diabetes or to maintain the “honeymoon phase” by treating type 1 diabetes early. To find out if you can join, visit the TrialNet website
A lot of other research is going on. To find studies in your area, talk to your health care team, visit NIDDK’s Clinical Trials, Guidelines, and Research Reports webpage, and check the resources listed below.
- Honeymoon phase
- Honeymoon phase: temporary remission of hyperglycemia that occurs in some people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, when some insulin secretion resumes for a short time-for example, a few months-before stopping again.
Additional Resources for Parents and Children
National Diabetes Education Program
www.YourDiabetesInfo.org or call 1-888-693-NDEP (1-888-693-6337)
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF)
www.jdrf.org or call 1-800-223-1138
American Diabetes Association (ADA)
www.diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383)
Children with Diabetes
www.childrenwithdiabetes.com
Joslin Diabetes Center (JDC)
www.joslin.org or call 1-800-JOSLIN (1-800-567-5461)
Weight Control Information Network (WIN)
www.win.niddk.nih.gov or call 1-877-946-4627
A program to provide up-to-date, science-based information on weight control, obesity, physical activity, and related nutritional issues.
We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition)
wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov or call 1-866-35-WECAN (1-866-359-3226)
A national movement designed to give parents, caregivers, and communities a way to help children stay at a healthy weight.
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