Assessment of diet quality in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Background. Micronutrient malnutrition is a serious public health problem in most developing countries, including Morocco, due to poor and therefore lower quality diets that lack dietary diversity. Objective. The present study aimed to assess dietary diversity and variety and their relationship with micronutrient adequacy in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was carried among 240 children and adolescents with T1D. Weight and height were measured and BMI was calculated. Dietary intake data were obtained from two 24-h recalls. A Dietary diversity (DDS) and dietary variety scores (DVS) and mean adequacy ratio (MAR) and nutritional adequacy ratios (NARs) were calculated and compared according to sociodemographic/anthropometric categories. Results. 52.1% of the patients were female. The mean age of the patients was 8.49 ± 4.1 years. The mean BMI was 19.44 ± 5.24 kg/m2; the mean DDS was 4.62±1.20 and the mean MAR was 0.66 ± 0.11. Older children living in rural areas have a low DDS/DVS. Parental education and income level are associated with DDS/DVS. General and central obesity were significantly elevated in children with high DDS. In addition, a high intake of vegetables, eggs, fiber and micronutrients (Magnesium, Calcium, Potassium, Zinc, Phosphorus and Vit B1) is associated with a high DDS; however, high DVS is associated with high consumption of dairy products, carbohydrates and low intake of protein and fat. There are also positive correlations between DDS/DVS and NARs for various nutrients. Conclusion. The quality of the respondents’ diets are moderately diversified. DDS or DVS can be used as indicators of micronutrient adequacy in Moroccan T1D children. Nutritional education needs to be strengthened to improve dietary diversity in children, especially in rural areas.

Diet and Glycemic Index in Children with Type 1 Diabetes

“…According to the ISPAD, children with T1D must receive adequate energy and calorie intake to ensure optimal growth and they should maintain a good glycemic control [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. We know that the quality and quantity of foods have a pivotal role in order to regulate the levels of postprandial blood glucose and daily insulin requirements in patients with diabetes [ 41 ]. Particularly, carbohydrates are the main macronutrient which influence glycemia after a meal [ 42 ].…”