There's good news for those with diabetes who are thinking of having children. Kathryn (Kassie) Gregorio Palmer, a mother of two young boys and first-time author of a new book entitled "When You're a Parent with Diabetes: A Real-Life Guide to Staying Healthy While Raising a Family" (Healthy Living Books), provides strategies, inspiring stories and resources to help parents stay healthy while raising a family.
Palmer's unique book guides parents with diabetes through the ups and downs of dealing with the disease and staying healthy while raising a family. Palmer includes practical tips about how to teach your children what they need to do in case of a medical emergency.
Uncontrolled, diabetes can lead to complications including coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease, stroke, diabetic neuropathy, amputations, renal failure and blindness. Mood swings and personality changes during a parent's spells of low blood sugar can frighten young children. And in the haste of getting kids off to school, it can be easy to forget to check glucose levels.
In the book "When You're a Parent With Diabetes," Palmer has created a guide to navigating the special challenges of parenting when you have diabetes. It addresses questions such as:
• What are the risks of being pregnant with diabetes?
• Will I have the energy to handle a rambunctious child?
• Where can I hide my juice boxes so the kids don't accidentally drink them all?
Palmer offers a number of tips for managing issues such as food and exercise along with children. For instance, when it comes to fast food, she suggests getting a fast-food nutrition guide before you go through the drive-through, so you can combine healthy eating along with convenience.
She also suggests taking a cooking class with your children as a way to encourage them to have healthier eating habits.
In addition to offering the insights collected from other parents, the book offers tips on a wide range of topics, such as:
• What to do before the baby arrives and dealing with postpartum depression
• Teaching young children about diabetes and the complications that stem from the disease
• Diabetes and depression
• Genetic testing for diabetes
• Exercising with your children.
Palmer is the winner of the Bayer Dream Fund, which recognizes the achievements of people with diabetes.
The book is available at www.amazon.com and also at www.hatherleighpress.com.
To learn more, visit the Web site at www.bayerdreamfund.com.
Finding the time and energy to maintain a healthy lifestyle can be a challenge for any parent-but it can be a matter of life and death for parents with diabetes.
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