Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/922545

OpenURL Link
Title
Can children with type 1 diabetes and their caregivers estimate the carbohydrate content of meals and snacks?
Author/Creator
Smart, C. E.;  Ross, K.;  Edge, J. A.;  King, B. R.;  McElduff, P.;  Collins, C. E.
Institution
The University of Newcastle. Faculty of Health, School of Health Sciences
Description
Aims: Carbohydrate (CHO) counting allows children with Type 1 diabetes to adjust mealtime insulin dose to carbohydrate intake. Little is known about the ability of children to count CHO and whether a particular method for assessing CHO quantity is better than others. We investigated how accurately children and their caregivers estimate carbohydrate, and whether counting in gram increments improves accuracy compared with CHO portions or exchanges. Methods: One hundred and two children and adolescents (age range 8.3–18.1 years) on intensive insulin therapy and 110 caregivers independently estimated the CHO content of 17 standardized meals (containing 8–90 g CHO), using whichever method of carbohydrate quantification they had been taught (gram increments, 10-g portions or 15-g exchanges). Results: Seventy-three per cent (n = 2530) of all estimates were within 10–15 g of actual CHO content. There was no relationship between the mean percentage error and method of carbohydrate counting or glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) (P > 0.05). Mean gram error and meal size were negatively correlated (r = -0.70, P < 0.0001). The longer children had been CHO counting the greater the mean percentage error (r = 0.173, P = 0.014). Core foods in non-standard quantities were most frequently inaccurately estimated, while individually labelled foods were most often accurately estimated. Conclusions: Children with Type 1 diabetes and their caregivers can estimate the carbohydrate content of meals with reasonable accuracy. Teaching CHO counting in gram increments did not improve accuracy compared with CHO portions or exchanges. Large meals tended to be underestimated and snacks overestimated. Repeated age-appropriate education appears necessary to maintain accuracy in carbohydrate estimations.
Relation
Diabetic Medicine Vol. 27, Issue 3, p. 348-353
Publisher Link
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.02945.x
Date
2010
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
Keyword(s)
adolescents;  children;  diet;  intensive therapy;  type 1 diabetes
Resource Type
journal article
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/922545
Identifier
ISSN:0742-3071
Reviewed
Reviewed
64 Visitors 70 Hits 0 Downloads
Save/E-mail Citation
Citation Format
E-mail Address
Subject
"Diabetic Medicine"
 
OR