Paediatric Carbohydrate Free Meal Ideas

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The aim of this diet sheet is to provide meal and snack ideas for children with diabetes who are required to have carbohydrate free meals prior to their appointment with their consultant.
All insulin pump users will be advised to have a carbohydrate free breakfast, lunch and evening meal. This will enable the diabetes team to check how well their basal (background) insulin dose is working, also known as basal rate testing. Most children choose to have one carbohydrate free meal per day rather than having a completely carbohydrate free day.

Meal ideas:
– Plain/cheese/ham/mushroom omelette (no milk)
– Scrambled (no milk, can use butter)/boiled/poached egg, rasher of bacon and mushrooms
– Tinned fish e.g. tuna/sardines/ salmon with salad (lettuce, cucumber and celery)
– Chicken drumsticks and broccoli
– Prawn/tuna/egg mayonnaise with salad (lettuce, cucumber and celery)
– Cheese salad (lettuce, cucumber and celery) e.g. cheddar/mozzarella/feta cheese
– Plain ham/chicken/beef/pork/lamb or fish with mushrooms/broccoli/spinach or salad (lettuce, cucumber and celery)

Snack ideas:
– Celery sticks
– Piece of cheese/ Mini BabyBel® / Cheese string (20g)
– Cucumber sticks
– Salami stick (25g)
– Chicken drumstick
– Slice of ham/chicken/beef or pork
– Sugar free jelly

Drinks:
– Black tea or coffee
– No added sugar squash
– Water
– Diet fizzy drinks

This diet sheet is designed to be used as a guide only and it is recommended that food labels are checked to confirm the carbohydrate content of individual foods.

The information contained in this diet sheet has been compiled from product information, McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods (2002), or Carbs & Cals (2010).