Kamna Kumar 
Maintaining a healthy diet remains one of the biggest challenges in managing diabetes among children in Fiji.
Despite awareness of what’s required, many young patients struggle to give up sugary snacks and fast food.
For 69-year-old Unaisi Temple, caring for her granddaughter with diabetes is not the hard part; however, changing her diet is.
Unaisi Temple
Temple says her granddaughter, like many children today, prefers fast food over healthier options.
She says this makes it difficult to stick to the kind of diet needed to manage her condition.
“The diet, you have to change that diet to vegetables. Kids at home, they don’t like vegetables. And not only kids at home, kids nowadays, they like their McDonald’s, they like their roast chicken, they like their DMC.”
Despite the challenges, Temple continues to do her best to prepare meals and make sure her granddaughter stays on track with her medication.
Diabetes Fiji Dietician Joy Savou says habits developed early in life are often hard to change, but small steps like growing vegetables at home can help introduce healthier eating.
Savou is encouraging children to make better choices by running education and leadership programs, aiming to shift mindsets and promote long-term health.
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