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Dietary habits and nutritional knowledge of people with type 2 diabetes
Date Issued | Volume | Issue | Start Page | End Page |
---|---|---|---|---|
2024-04-05 | 60 | Suppl. 1 | 224 | 224 |
factors that can be adjusted to manage type 2 diabetes, control blood glucose levels and prevent future complications. Obesity and inadequate nutrition are not only significant risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes but also have a major impact on its management. Patients with diabetes are often analysed from 3 perspectives: their knowledge, attitudes and habits. Aim. To analyse the nutritional knowledge, attitudes and eating habits of people with type 2 diabetes. Method. The study involved 71 patients with type 2 diabetes aged 18 years and older, hospitalized at the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno Klinikos Endocrinology Department. An anonymous questionnaire developed by the authors was used for the quantitative study. Statistical data analysis was performed using SPSS version 29. The χ2 test, z-test with Bonferroni correction and univariate Mann-Whitney test were used to test the distribution of data. Data were considered significant at p < 0.05. Results. Of all the subjects, 54.9% were obese. While buying food, patients with type 2 diabetes usually choose products, regarding their sugar content but one-fifth do not pay attention. Most patients usually eat home-cooked meals, buy fresh products and do not sweeten their food and drinks. One-fifth of the patients often skip main meals and the majority choose oil as a source of fat for cooking. Most patients consume fruits and vegetables often enough but not enough nuts. The majority avoid pasta, potatoes and dishes and limit the consumption of processed meat products but almost a third consume red meat too often. Butter consumption is too frequent for the majority of the patients. Most patients try to avoid sweetened and alcoholic beverages, sweets and salty snacks or do not consume them at all. Conclusions. The nutritional knowledge of patients with type 2 CD is satisfactory, but the subjects subjectively assessed their knowledge as better. Patients’ attitudes towards dietary requirements are quite positive, as most of them understand the importance of diet and its impact on their disease and are able to acknowledge that they are experiencing difficulties. Acknowledgements. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest and there was no funding to conduct the study.