Diabetes in Kids and Teens

Family Resource Brief

Here you will find links to resources about care, services, support, and communicating online, websites, and electronic publications about diabetes in kids and teens.

Care, Services, and Support

• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Find a Registered Dietitian. Contact information for registered dietitians and registered dietetic technicians who are ADA members. Search by city, state, zip code, type of service, and area of expertise, including diabetes and pediatric nutrition.
  
  
• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Pediatrician Referral Service. An online directory of pediatricians who are AAP members. Search by physician contact information and medical specialty/interest, including endocrinology.
  
  
• American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE): Find a Diabetes Educator. Choose a state from the map or enter a name, city, state, or zip code to get contact information for a diabetes educator.
  
  
• American Diabetes Association (ADA): National Call Center. Contact the center with non-medical questions or to seek support in English or Spanish on diabetes and its management. Telephone: (800) 342-2383 (800-DIABETES). E-mail: [email protected] (English) or [email protected] (Spanish). An instant message service is also available.
  
  
• Children with Diabetes (CWD): Ask the Diabetes Team. E-mail health professionals with a question about diabetes.
  
  
• Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA). A directory of diabetes camps in and outside the United States. DECA members are camping and youth leaders and health professionals who operate diabetes camps and programs for kids and teens.
  
  
• Family Voices (FV). Family Voices in Your State and Family to Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs) help you find resources and services to provide and pay for health care for your kids.
  
  
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): Find a Health Center. Search by address, city, state, or zip code to find a federally funded health center that provides free or low-cost care.
  
  
• Insure Kids Now. Links to each state’s child and teen health insurance program website. Available in English and Spanish. Telephone: (877) 543-7669 (KIDS-NOW).
  
  
• See the MCH Digital Library’s Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families.
  

Communicate Online

• American Diabetes Association (ADA): Message Boards. Exchange ideas and opinions on a variety of topics with people affected by diabetes. One board is for teens and young adults with diabetes and another is for parents of kids with diabetes.
  
  
• Children with Diabetes (CWD): Family Support Network. A database of parents, kids, teens, adults, family members, and friends willing to exchange mail or e-mail about diabetes. Also offers a collection of online forums for parents, grandparents, kids, teens, and adults with diabetes. Moderated chats are also available for parents to interact with one another about topics concerning diabetes and kids.
  
  
• Friends' Health Connection (FHC) Online Community. Join to find members with diabetes to exchange friendship and support. Includes groups for family members and caregivers. Resources include message boards, blogs, and online lectures.
  
  
• Joslin Diabetes Center: Discussion Boards. Moderated forums for teens with diabetes and families of kids with diabetes to find information and share thoughts and experiences on specific diabetes issues.
  
  
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF): TypeOneNation. A social network for people with type 1 diabetes who are at least 14 years old.
  

Websites

• American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE): Patient Resources. Self-care videos and a self-care guide (available in English and Spanish) for people with diabetes. Includes a set of tips for teens with diabetes.
  
  
• American Diabetes Association (ADA): Diabetes Information for Parents and Kids. Information about raising a kid with diabetes that includes diabetes diagnosis, care, and complications; challenges when a kid is at school; parenting and family life; nutrition and meal planning; physical activity; and legal rights. Also offers a series of research summaries about diabetes in kids and teens; electronic newsletters; and a companion Spanish-language website.
  
  
• Children with Diabetes (CWD). Information for parents, kids, and teens about all aspects of diabetes care. Includes articles from parents and stories by kids and teens with diabetes and information about diabetes-related events and camps.
  
  
• Flu.gov: Diabetes and the Flu. Guidelines for people with diabetes who contract the flu. Use the Flu Shot Locator to find out about flu vaccine availability and where to get vaccinated.
  
  
• Joslin Diabetes Center: Childhood Diabetes. An online guide to information about diabetes diagnosis and management and communicating with your child about diabetes care. Presents a glossary of diabetes terms and contact information for Joslin treatment and education services that include its JumpStart Program for kids newly diagnosed with diabetes. Publications include books about managing diabetes, cookbooks, and books by and for kids and teens with diabetes.
  
  
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Information for families about all aspects of type 1 diabetes. Publications include magazines for parents and kids, electronic newsletters, a blog, fact sheets, books written for and by kids and teens about growing up with diabetes, and parenting guides. JDRF’s Kids Online delivers information and activities for kids, and Life with Diabetes for Teens posts articles about living with the challenges of diabetes.
  
  
• KidsHealth Diabetes Center. Information in English and Spanish for parents, teens, and kids about living with diabetes and managing and monitoring the disease. Resources include a food diary, a blood glucose record, an online movie about the disease, a diabetes dictionary, and recipes.
  
  
• MedlinePlus: Diabetes. Links to a wealth of information about diabetes in English, Spanish, and several other languages. Also links to MedlinePlus guides on related topics, such as diabetes complications, diabetes medicines, and islet cell transplantation.
  
  
• National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP). Resources for families and teens about diabetes prevention and control. See Tips for Kids: How to Lower Your Risk for Type 2 Diabetes. (2009).
  

Additional Electronic Publications

• Chase HP. 2006. Understanding Diabetes (11th ed.). Denver, CO: Children’s Diabetes Foundation at Denver. This handbook for people who are living with diabetes encompasses the clinical practices of the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes.
  
  
• Perez G. 2006. Eagle Books: Stories About Growing Strong and Preventing Diabetes. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This series of four storybooks and four coloring books presents information about type 2 diabetes prevention, physical activity, and healthy eating among Native American kids. Animated versions of the series and podcasts were developed in 2008. The materials, videos, podcasts and other resources may appeal to kids and parents of all cultures.
  

Learn more about diabetes in kids and teens.

Need more information? Use the collection of resources that library staff have put together for you and your family.

Diabetes in Kids and Teens: Family Resource Brief. (August 2010). (Updated: July 2014).

Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Reviewer: Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Digital Library.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Digital Library.