The Family Project
Managing dietary intake in young children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) is important in maintaining blood sugar levels within normal range. Under conventional nutritional management, parents and children with T1DM are asked to select certain food types and keep regular eating schedules to match children's daily insulin levels.
For young children with T1DM, families may experience increased levels of stress at mealtimes because of dietary requirements. In addition, families of children with T1DM may experience more miscalculations in daily intake management in order to optimize nutritional goals. Research investigations assessing barriers to nutritional goals are needed to inform patient care.
In this study, we assessed food intake, daily blood sugar levels and insulin requirements, daily exercise activity, mealtime behaviors and family stress.
Assessment
Interested families were recruited from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Diabetes Clinic. Eligible children were between the ages of 24 months and 8 years old with a confirmed diagnosis of TIDM for at least 1 year. Children with T1DM were either conventionally or intensively managed. Dietary intake was collected via weighed 3-day diet diaries. Blood glucose levels were collected using the Freestyle™ meter for 14 consecutive days. Meal plans were obtained from clinic dieticians and from parent report. Exercise activities were measured using the Actigraph movement meter. Mealtimes were videotaped and independently coded by trained research fellows and assistants. Families also completed questionnaires that asked about parent feeding and child eating behaviors.
Susana R. Patton, PhD, is now a clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan. Ongoing collaborative research with Dr. Patton and the Powers lab will include replication of past assessments, examination of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy and development of behavioral and nutritional interventions to improve dietary adherence with families of young children with T1DM.
Dr. Patton has obtained funding for a multi site study between the University of Michigan and Cincinnati Children's Hospital. The objective of the study is to examine the impact of insulin bolusing behaviors and parent and child psychosocial factors on glycemic control in young children with T1DM. Participants will include 30 families of children with T1DM across the two sites. Families will be eligible to participate if they have a child who is less than 7 years old, have been diagnosed with T1DM for at least 1 year, and have been receiving continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for at least 3 months. Children and families will be recruited from the University of Michigan Health System Pediatric Diabetes Clinic and Cincinnati Children's Diabetes Center.
