Dietary diversity and dietary habit of adult diabetic patients in Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia: A Hospital based cross sectional study.diet: Diet diversification is poor among diabetic patients; their focus is on dietary restriction

Abstract

Background: Diabetic patients should maintain a diversified dietary practice and a regular eating habit for good glycemic control and prevention of complications. In Ethiopian, information regarding the dietary pattern among diabetic patients is limited though the prevalence of diabetes and its complications are on the rise.
Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess the dietary diversity and dietary habit of diabetic patients by assessing their dietary intake using 24 hour recall method. 
Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study design was used to collect data on systematically selected 360 study participants from Ayder referral hospital in 2015. Structured questionnaire was used and dietary diversity was assessed using a single 24 hour dietary recall method. Data was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and was exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Diet diversity score was calculated from 10 food groups using the minimum diet diversity score cutoff point of five. Descriptive statistic was presented using mean and standard deviation, frequency and percentages.
Results: About 50% of the respondents were Type I diabetic patients. The mean dietary diversity was 3.51 (SD: 1.27) and the magnitude of poor dietary diversity score was 75.5% (95% CI: 68.1 – 82.9%). The most frequently consumed food groups were grains (100%) and pulses (82.5%). The least consumed food groups were nuts and seeds (0.8%), eggs (4.8%) and other fruits (5.9%). About twenty four (6.8%) and hundred eighty six (52.4%) of participants consumed any type of fruits and any type of vegetables respectively. About 28.7% skip main meal more than once per week and about two third doesn’t have a regular eating pattern. Majority of study participants (95.5%) are restricted from consuming specific foods types.
Conclusion: Poor dietary diversity score was common among diabetic patients. The participants had a dietary pattern characterized by high consumption of grains and legumes and low consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and eggs. The mean dietary diversity was low indicating that diabetic patients are following a less diversified eating pattern. Considering nutrition therapy is a principal component of diabetes management, this level of dietary practice is poor. Therefore, hospitals should develop strategies to fully incorporate up to date nutrition education and individualized counseling with emphasis on diversification of meals, meal skipping and regular eating pattern.