Tips for those who have diabetes during the Halloween period

Shown below are just a few tips for people affected by diabetes to help manage the condition during the Halloween period. Whether you are lucky enough to be going to a party (with or without your children). Or are accompanying your children 'trick or treating', it is important that people living with the condition know that they can still enjoy treats like everyone else, but they might need to plan for this in advance. Hopefully the tips and advice shown below will help keep their diabetes under control, but also allow them to have an enjoyable time. Listed below are just a few tips to help people living with diabetes to have an enjoyable and healthy Halloween.

Try not to eat all the treats while out and about

If your child has Type 1 diabetes and is going out 'trick or treating' try to ensure they don't eat their sweets while they are out, as it will be difficult to keep a track of how many they've had. Instead, wait until they get back so that they can decide how much they're going to have and you can help them make changes to their insulin dose if you need to. Don't let sweets take the place of a proper meal You're still going to need some starchy carbohydrates (like bread, pasta, chapatti or rice) to give you the long-lasting energy you will need. Test blood glucose levels Test your blood glucose levels. If you think your levels will be high it's tempting not to test, but if you don't you won't know what to do to get back on track, and then you might start feeling unwell. Avoid diabetic sweets Don't have diabetic sweets or chocolate. People might think they're being nice by giving you this, but it will still affect your blood glucose levels and might give you a stomach upset. They can also be more expensive. Being sensible about how many sugary treats you eat is essential and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet is important for everyone, whether you have diabetes or not. Diabetes UK has created a variety of recipes - from Halloween biscuits to jelly sweets - that are lower in sugar, salt and fat than most shop-bought alternatives. Be prepared for hypos Even though you're likely to eat more sweets than usual, if you are doing lots of running around, your blood glucose might drop too low and you might have a hypo. Make sure you've got something with you to treat a hypo – like glucose tablets or a non-diet drink.