Comparison of two approaches to nutrition education in the management of diabetic patients

Abstract

Introduction: Nutrition education is one of the fundamental axes in the management of diabetes. Objective: study the impact of two types of nutrition education (personalized and collective) on the glycemic control of diabetics in the province of Kenitra. Material and methods: The population was composed of 184 patients (86 men, 98 women) with an average age of (51.7±14.0) and an age range of [20 to 88.5]. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire containing socio-demographic and anthropometric information. Glycemic control was based on fasting glucose (GAJ), postprandial glucose (GPP), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). These analyzes were taken in three separate phases with a duration of 3 months; T0 represents the initial state (before our intervention), t 1 and t 2 which represent the values of the three analyzes after our intervention. Participants were randomized into two groups: a group that received collective nutrition education (n=105) and another group (n=79) had a personalized (individual) education. BMI was the only anthropometric measure used. Results: The whole population is overweight (BMI>25) for either women or men, also the results of glycemic control are superior to the norms in the three stages (t 0 , t 1 or t 2). Nutrition education Personalized shows statistically significant differences in the variables studied as a function of time more than those studied in collective nutrition education (p=0.00 <0.05). Also the difference is significant between collective nutrition education and personalized nutritional education (P=0.00 <0.05) for the means of HBA1C (%) at t 1 and at t 2 ; Fasting glucose (g / l) at t 1 and t 2 and post-prandial glucose (g / l) at t 1 and t 2. Conclusion: The results of this study show that collective nutrition education yields significant results in terms of impact on glycemic control of theses diabetics. The number of studies on this aspect (nutrition education) remains modest, another study is desirable on a larger sample to better confirm our results.