Brussels, Belgium – A Belgian mother is leveraging social media to empower families navigating type 1 diabetes, sharing recipes and support through her Instagram page, “Diab de Romi Snacks.” Romina launched the page roughly a year ago after developing a collection of recipes tailored to manage carbohydrate intake for her son, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age and is now seven years old.
The initiative began as a personal project – a recipe book shared with family and friends – and quickly grew as Romina connected with other parents facing similar challenges. “So I started, on my own scale, to make a small recipe book with those that I reproduced, and with the calculation of carbohydrates. I shared it with family and friends. then, one thing led to another, meeting other parents experiencing the same problem as us, I also shared these recipes and these calculations with them,” Romina explained.
Her Instagram page features recipes for biscuits, cakes, pancakes, waffles, and other treats, all with clearly calculated carbohydrate content. Romina emphasizes the importance of normalizing food enjoyment for children with diabetes. “It really responded to a lack, and it allows us to demonize sugar, in fact. From the moment we know the carbohydrate content, we can eat just like everyone else with type 1 diabetes. And that was significant to show,” she said. “Even with this disease, a child remains a child: he continues to laugh, grow, eat and flourish.”
Romina’s work comes as diabetes diagnoses, particularly among young people, are on the rise in Belgium, with increasingly aggressive cases reported. Organizations like the Belgian Diabetes Association are working to foster community and provide resources for those affected. Romina hopes her page will remind parents of children with type 1 diabetes that they are not alone. “I want to tell them that they will learn. They receive a huge load of information at the beginning, but after that things fall into place little by little. It’s true that it’s a long road, and on this path, there are ups and downs. But they will meet great people along the way.”