Dietary Consumption Practices and Its Associated Factors among Type 2 Diabetes Patients in Pokhara Metropolitan

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a major worldwide public health problem. A healthy diet has been the best measure for preventing the diabetic condition of patients. This study aimed to assess the dietary practice and its associated factors among type 2 Diabetes Patients in Pokhara Metropolitan.

Methods: A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 390 diabetic patients in Pokhara, Nepal. A proportionate sequential sampling technique was used to make the sample representative from four different health facilities. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data and food measurement for daily energy intake was calculated. The P-value of <0.05 was considered as a cut-off for statistical significance.

Results: This study revealed that more than half (55.6%) of participants were female. Nearly three-fifths (57.2%) of participants were overweight and 16.2% were obese. In this study, 49.5% of diabetic patients had adequate calories and 37.4% had good dietary practice. The study showed that the variables like family type, type of oil used, BMI, and duration of diabetes mellitus were associated with food consumption practices among type 2 diabetic patients.

Conclusion: Findings of this study indicated that nearly two third of the patients had poor dietary practices. Family type, the oil used, duration of diabetes and BMI level were associated factors for the dietary practices among type 2 diabetes patients. Nutrition education and counseling on healthy dietary practices among newly diagnosed diabetes patients and malnourished by BMI measurement need to be emphasized by health workers while providing health care services to diabetes patients.