Carbohydrate Counting in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

The total amount of carbohydrates (CHO) at meal consumed strongly predicts the glycemic response in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Carbohydrate counting is a technique to adapt a dose of rapid acting insulin to the carbohydrate content of a meal. Thanks to this flexible insuline therapy, the glycemic control and the quality of life tend to improve. Carbohydrate counting is a recommended technique in the adult diabetic population. There is little data on the use of this methode in youth with diabetes. There are no studies on the change of carbohydrates content at meals in children and adolescents with diabetes practicing counting carbs, while it is the main interest of this technique. The aim of this study is to assess how children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes use the possibility to change their carbohydrate amount at each main meal when they use the counting carb method. The investigators hypothesize that children vary their amount of CHO greatly. This is an argument for using this technique in pediatrics