Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of low dose and standard dose insulin in the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children. Methods Totally 80 young patients with DKA were selected from August 2015 to December 2017 in our Hospital, according to the random distribution, and all patients were divided into scalar group (40 cases) and low volume group (40 cases). Scalar group was treated with 0.1u/(kg·h) insulin, and low volume group was treated with 0.05u/(kg·h) insulin. The time of urine ketone body turning negative, blood glucose decreasing speed, inflammatory factors (IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α), therapeutic effect and complications were compared between two groups. Results There was no statistically significant difference in the time of urine ketone body turning negative between the scalar group and the low-dose group (P > 0.05), and the blood glucose decreased faster in the scalar group than in the low-dose group (P < 0.05). After treatment, IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α in the scalar group and the low-dose group were lower than those before treatment (P < 0.05), while IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α between the two groups showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in the total effective rate between the scalar group and the low-dose group (P > 0.05). The incidence of complications in the scalar group was higher than that in the low-dose group (P < 0.05). Conclusions Compared with the standard dose, the action speed of low dose insulin on children’s DKA is slow. But it also has good clinical efficacy and safety, which is worth for further clinical promotion.