Kids

Whether your child, from infant to teenager, has officially been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia or you just think he or she is suffering from this condition, this site is for you. Parents, children, caregivers, teachers, nurses – even doctors — can benefit from the wealth of information you will find here.

My name is Roberta Ruggiero, and I am founder and president of The Hypoglycemia Support Foundation, Inc., which has been working for the last four decades to serve people like you. Through hundreds of meetings in the community and with years of experience speaking with folks online, we have had the opportunity to hear from and touch the lives of more than a million people suffering hypoglycemia from all over the world!

The HSF is world renowned for providing support, advocacy and information about the causes, prevention and management of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Throughout the years, our mission statement and focus has remained the same. We have worked diligently to inform the public about the harmful effects of a high sugar diet, the biggest culprit contributing to hypoglycemia. However, it was not until the last few years that the medical community and the media wholeheartedly joined in our efforts.

“Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and providing a superb web site. There is an area, however, that I found extremely little information and education on and perhaps you can provide enlightenment for those in need. It’s in regards to children and hypoglycemia. My ten-year-old daughter is intelligent, bouncy and happy most of the time. But over a period of several months, she began to experience significant mood swings, excessive grumpiness, lack of concentration, headaches, etc. Her teacher, my adult friends, and my family related her behavior to “a phase,” a lack of sleep, or to the onset of puberty. I finally understood she had hypoglycemia while we were on vacation. One episode in particular was a telltale sign. She was having a major emotional breakdown, which was completely out of character and unsolicited, but within ten minutes of BEGINNING to eat, she turned into a person. Suddenly, the light bulb went off in my head! I am so grateful that I did not simply brush off her complaints and symptoms as just life stress or her maturing process.
-Mother of child with hypoglycemia

Although adults continue to contact our organization for information and support, it is the parents of adolescents and young children who have us most concerned… their cries for help have reached an all-time high!

For this reason, the HSF is focusing on Children & Hypoglycemia!

With all the programs out there addressing the consequences of a high sugar diet and how it contributes to the declining health of our society, it is still clearly evident that we at the HSF need to take it one step further. That’s why we are asking parents, teachers, healthcare professionals and community leaders to band together and spread our message:

What you are and are not eating contributes to how you think, feel and act.

There is definitely a food/mood connection!

If your child is experiencing any of the following symptoms – mood swings, severe fatigue, insomnia, sudden outbursts of temper, failing grades, sleeping in class and fainting spells – they may be warning signs that they are suffering from hypoglycemia! The solution may lie in a simple diet and lifestyle change!

But the first step is to go through our pages – check us out thoroughly, read our dietary guidelines, our do’s and don’ts, the personal stories. A special thank you goes out to all the parents who generously opened their hearts and shared their experiences. They wrote candidly about their challenges and triumphs so that we could learn from their mistakes and from their successes…how brave!

Let us know what you want, what you need, what’s missing from your support network of family, friends and medical community. The HSF hopes to be a “bridge” to get that message out so that hypoglycemia will be brought to the forefront of medicine, where it belongs!

The time to act is now! We can’t do this alone…it takes a “village”! Join the HSF and together we can make a difference!

Here’s to your health and the health of all the children and families coping with hypoglycemia,

Roberta