We have held an annual diabetic summer camp since 1982 for children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D). The dietary style in the previous camp had generally been a fixed diet, however, a free-choosing diet was introduced to the camp in 2008. We studied the significance of the free-choosing diet for nutritional management in children with T1D. Nineteen children with T1D, 10 males and 9 females aged 9.9 ± 3.1 years, participated in the camp in 2008 and were involved in the study. Despite the fact that they chose components of foods as they liked during the camp, none of the children showed over-intake of foods or any imbalance in the components of foods while on the free-choosing diet. This good outcome could be due to nutritional advice provided by a special pediatric dietician at the outpatient clinic. On the other hand, some children did not consume enough vegetables, which should be resolved by further education of the children. It appears that the free-choosing diet could promote flexibility in the nutritional management of diabetes and a diabetic summer camp might be good opportunity to learn skills regarding how to select adequate foods for children with T1D.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.