Alternative snack system for children and teenagers with diabetes mellitus

An alternative snack system facilitates diabetes management and provides a teaching tool for age-appropriate nutrition education of children and teenagers with diabetes mellitus. The system consists of four snack sizes: Mini--7 to 10 g available glucose, Little--15 to 20 g, Big--30 to 35 g, and Super-Big--50 to 55 g. Within each category, several snack patterns are equivalent to each other in terms of available glucose and energy. By using this system, a child or teenager can eat snacks that contain different food groups and still adhere to the overall meal plan. When additional carbohydrate is needed for exercise or the prevention of nighttime hypoglycemia, a snack from the next largest category will increase available glucose by approximately 15 g and energy intake by approximately 100 kcal. Generally, for every hour of extra physical activity, a Little snack is added. When blood glucose concentrations before a nighttime snack are 4.4 to 6.7 mmol/L, a Little Snack is added to the usual bedtime snack, and when levels are less than 4.4 mmol/L, a Big snack is added. Further adjustments are made for children younger than 5 years old. The alternative snack system is a valuable nutrition education tool for the management of diabetes in children and teenagers.