Diabetes & Healthy Eating at Restaurants

The key to eating at a restaurant if your child has diabetes is finding a place with healthy options and easy ways to calculate the number of carbohydrates, or carbs, in foods.

Where to Go

You can find nutritious foods at most restaurants — even fast-food places. Check online menus to find restaurants that offer a variety of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Salads and vegetarian entrées are easy to find and may be good choices for your child. If you prefer buffet-style restaurants, keep in mind that it’s often hard to know what’s in each dish and tricky to calculate grams of carbohydrates for these items.

What to Bring

Grab a few essential items before you head out, including:

• Your child’s diabetes to-go kit. Your child should take the kit wherever they go. It should contain insulin, fast-acting carbs, and glucagon. Be sure to pack your child’s blood glucose meter too unless your child wears a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
• Extra fast-acting carbohydrates in case of low blood sugar. After treating low blood sugar with candy or glucose tablets or gel, an extra snack, like a piece of fruit or crackers, will come in handy to keep your child’s blood sugar up.
• Handy resources on your phone. Many apps (like CalorieKing, MyFitness Pal, and others) can tell you the carb counts for specific foods at popular restaurants.
• A favorite condiment. If your child has a favorite condiment (like a familiar dressing), bring it with you.

Getting Ready to Order a Meal

Your whole family can benefit from making healthy choices — not just your child with diabetes. Here are some practical tips to try:

• Talk through the menu. Explain what you're looking for and why. Your child will learn to use these skills when eating out without you. 
• When in doubt, ask your server. Some menus don't spell out what's in a dish or how it's prepared. Your server can find out or even get carb count information from the kitchen.
• Ask for substitutions. Most restaurants will make healthy swaps for you if asked. For example, ask for a side salad or veggies instead of fries.
• Choose a healthy prep method. Encourage your child to choose foods that are baked, grilled, broiled, steamed, or poached (instead of fried or breaded) whenever possible.
• Look out for sugar and extra ingredients. Avoid sweet sauces. They’re likely high in carbs, and it can be tricky to calculate the carbs. Ask for low-fat dressings on the side.
• Go light on buns and crusts. Teach kids to choose thin-crust pizza over a deep-dish pie and skip double burgers and extra-long hot dogs to keep carb intake under control. And keep in mind that English muffins, bread, and small buns often contain fewer calories and fat than croissants and biscuits.
• Master fast-food lingo. Explain that when having fast food, it’s important to watch for words like "jumbo," "supersize," "deluxe," or "value." Instead, kids can order junior- or regular-sized sandwiches and sides or share a meal with someone.

What Else Should I Know?

It’s also important to watch portion sizes. Restaurants might serve larger portions than what you serve at home. There’s no need to finish it all. Kids can enjoy part of an entrée and take the rest home. Or share a large dish with your child. Use easy visuals to estimate portion sizes:

• a fist is about a cup
• a thumb is about a tablespoon
• a cupped hand is about a ½ cup

Eating at a restaurant can help kids learn to make smart food choices — whether they have diabetes or not — and have fun at the same time.