Some of your child’s friends may have never heard of diabetes. So, when your child first tell their friends, it’s important to help them understand what diabetes is and how it affects your child and the things that they do. It’s also important for them to understand that diabetes is not contagious and that having diabetes doesn’t define your child. Your child is still the same kid they’ve always been and they can still do the same things they’ve always done. They just happen to have diabetes.
Cover the Basics
Your child's friends might wonder if they can catch diabetes from hanging out with your child. Let them know that you can’t catch diabetes like the flu or a cold. Tell them that having diabetes just means your body doesn’t make enough insulin. If they don’t know what insulin is, your child can tell them it’s a hormone made in your pancreas that helps your body use sugar from food for energy.
Tips for Talking to Your Child's Friends
- Your child can show their friends how they can check their blood sugar. They can tell them about earning reward points for good blood sugar testing habits on Bayer’s DIDGET™ meter.
- Your child can talk to their friends about the games they get to play on his or her computer, Nintendo DS™ or Nintendo DS™ Lite.
- Tell your child to tell their friends how having diabetes makes you feel and ask them what makes them feel the same way.
- Host a diabetes party at your house. Teach your child’s friends how to make delicious healthy snacks, share a story or tell them what you’ve learned about diabetes. You can have them bring their parents so your parents can teach them about diabetes, too.
