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Cassidy Reed
BIS 3800
Proposal
Thesis Question:
Would giving families a child-friendly nutrition and body science book increase the level of
understanding of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus among children diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes?
What I intend to do:
My capstone will be a creative project. I will create a children’s book explaining Type 1
Diabetes Mellitus. The target audience for the book will be children between five and twelve
years of age, and the content of the book will contain information in language and style
understandable to children in the target age range. The information will convey what happens to
a body with diabetes as well as insulin’s role in mitigating diabetes’ effects. In addition, the book
will also explain how eating nutritionally can help children manage their diabetes.
Why I intend to do it:
I chose this project because I love working with children and helping them feel comfortable with
learning about their bodies. I work as a medical assistant in a pediatric clinic and have
volunteered at Primary Children’s Hospital. My experiences have shown me that children often
have difficulty understanding not only a condition itself, but the difficult emotional, social, and
practical consequences of this condition. It is important for children who are diagnosed with
diseases to understand what is going on inside them, and how they can take charge of what is
happening. My older sister was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was five years old,
and I grew up not understanding what was happening to her. I remember my mother struggled to
find material to help my sister understand what was happening to her and to understand that it
was not my sister’s fault. I encounter similar situations at the pediatric clinic where I work, and
the clinic does not have a resource tailored to children to help them understand diabetes. I hope
to be able to use this book in my workplace to help not only my coworkers but most importantly
our patients.
Areas of emphasis:
My three areas of emphasis are Nutrition, Health Science, and Child and Family Studies. My
capstone project will incorporate these areas as explained below:
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 Nutrition will be incorporated by explaining in the book how the food children put into
their bodies will affect their diabetes and will teach the children how to take charge of
what is going on inside their body.
 Health Science will be incorporated by explaining diabetes, the endocrine system and
other body functions in the children’s book.
 Child and Family Studies will be incorporated by creating the children’s book and
explaining health and nutrition in ways that children can understand, and so that a family
can learn together.
My plan:
I intend to complete my capstone project by the end of Spring Semester 2019. The process for
writing the book will consist of at least three phases: researching, drafting, and formatting. In
June, I will start the researching phase, where I will compile sources and pre-existing work done
related to diabetes and children’s education. The research phase will take approximately two
weeks to complete. Following the research phase, I will begin the drafting phase. In the drafting
phase, I will prepare content that will follow the outline below:
1. What is happening in my body?
a. This section will explain the need for glucose in cells and why insulin is
important. It will also explain what would happen normally in a body that
produces enough insulin, and then explain how their body isn’t able to
produce it. It will also explain autoimmune disease, and that getting the
disease is not the child’s fault. This section will be no longer than 10 pages,
and I will have this portion of the book finished by the end of June.
2. What can happen to my body?
a. This section will lightly explain what happens to different parts of their body
when they don’t take care of it. I don’t want to scare the children, but I want
them and their families to understand what may happen, and signs to watch
out for in different parts of the body. For instance, hypoglycemia, or
hyperglycemia. This section will be no longer than 7 pages and I will have
this portion of the book finished by the end of July.
3. How to take care of my body
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a. This section will explain the injection of insulin, finger pricks to test blood
glucose, and the regulation of blood glucose through the intake of food, and
how to regulate exercise. This section will be no longer than 10 pages and I
will have this portion of the book finished by the end of August.
4. Closing
a. This section will explain new technology and ways that families can get
involved with research. I want to give them hope that even though the task of
taking care of their diabetes looks daunting, they can do it, and if they take
care of their diabetes they can do anything they put their minds to! This
section will be no longer than three pages and I will have this portion of the
book finished by September.
5. Yummy Snacks
a. This will have healthy snacks that parents and families can make together for
after school to help maintain blood sugar levels. There will be no more than 7
recipes and I will have this portion of the book finished by October.
After I finish the drafting phase, I will illustrate and format the book. I will be reaching out to a
few graphic designers along with families and children that have Type 1 Diabetes to collaborate
on illustrations. I am estimating that this will take until the end of November. Last, I will write
the supporting paper that consists of the research behind what is in the book as well as how to
present the book to families. I will finish the paper by the end of January. Finally, I will present
the book to the pediatric clinic I work for to allow them to use it as a resource for children with
Type 1 Diabetes in February.
Final Product:
The final product will consist of the book that I create for children as well as a 10-15
page supporting paper.
References I have found:
Nutrition:
Rovner, A. J., Nansel, T. R., Mehta, S. N., Higgins, L. A., Haynie, D. L., & Laffel, L. M.
(2012). Development and Validation of the Type 1 Diabetes Nutrition Knowledge
Survey. Diabetes Care,35(8), 1643-1647. doi:10.2337/dc11-2371
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This article was a study about the general nutrition knowledge for families with children
with Type 1 Diabetes. I could present this information at the beginning of my capstone to
show that only slightly more than 50% children that are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes
know the nutritional aspects of diabetes. This capstone could help increase the number of
children that understand the nutritional responsibility of having diabetes.
Health Science:
Cato, A., & Hershey, T. (2016). Cognition and Type 1 Diabetes in Children and
Adolescents. Diabetes Spectrum,29(4), 197-202.
http://dx.doi.org.hal.weber.edu:2200/10.2337/ds16-0036
This article discusses problems that can occur with a child’s development if their blood
glucose becomes extreme, such as hypoglycemia. I wanted to use this article in helping
explain the dangers and warning signs to help parents and children understand the
importance of keeping a steady glucose level.
Child and Family Studies:
Chisholm, V., Atkinson, L., Bayrami, L., Noyes, K., Payne, A., & Kelnar, C. (2012). An
exploratory study of positive and incongruent communication in young children with
type 1 diabetes and their mothers. Child: Care, Health and Development,40(1), 85-94.
doi:10.1111/cch.12004
This article discusses a study done to show that there are positive results when there is
positive communication between parent and child about diabetes. It also showed that with
the good communication the child has fewer behavioral problems, and better adjustment,
as well as better dietary adherence. I would like to include this to explain the reason why
the book would be aimed towards the family and increasing communication between
parents and children about Type 1 Diabetes.