Evaluation of a nutrition education programme for people with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

A nutrition education programme was designed specifically to meet the needs of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and implemented in five self-help group. The programme was evaluated by means of two 7-day weighed food and drink records carried out before and after the programme, by an attitude questionnaire and subjectively by the dietitians and participants.Although the diets of the 48 participants were good before the programme, there were significant improvements in the mean intakes of added sugar, saturated fatty acids, K-3 PUFA, P/S ratio and energy from N-3 PUFA in both males and females. RNIs for all mean intakes of vitamins and minerals were met by males and females both before and after the programme and intakes were generally better than mean values for the British adult population.Seventy-five per cent of the group took food supplements before the programme and 65% after. The diets of those people who took supplements before the programme were better, compared with those who did not, in terms of fibre, vitamin C, saturated fatty acids, N-3 and N-6 PUFAs. The supplemented group also made more significant changes in their diets compared with the unsupplemented group.Attitudes towards diet were found to be positive both before and after the programme. Dietitians and participants subjectively evaluated the programme and their suggested alterations were incorporated into the programme.

Nutrition Education Programs for Adults with Neurological Diseases Are Lacking: A Scoping Review

“…Table 1 shows the characteristics of the 13 included studies. The studies involved people with dementia (six studies [31][32][33][34][35][36]), people with multiple sclerosis (four studies [37][38][39][40]), stroke survivors (two studies [41,42]), and people with Parkinson's disease (one study [43]). The studies were conducted in the United States [39][40][41][42][43], Brazil [33], Korea [31], Sweden [32], the United Kingdom [37], Germany [38], Spain [35], and Taiwan [36], and one study was conducted in three countries (France, Italy, and Spain) [34].…”

“…The studies involved people with dementia (six studies [31][32][33][34][35][36]), people with multiple sclerosis (four studies [37][38][39][40]), stroke survivors (two studies [41,42]), and people with Parkinson's disease (one study [43]). The studies were conducted in the United States [39][40][41][42][43], Brazil [33], Korea [31], Sweden [32], the United Kingdom [37], Germany [38], Spain [35], and Taiwan [36], and one study was conducted in three countries (France, Italy, and Spain) [34]. Eight of the studies compared an intervention group to a comparator group/s, in either a quasi-controlled trial [32], a randomized [35] or non-randomized cluster trial [34], or a randomized controlled trial [33,36,39,41,42].…”

“…Eight of the studies compared an intervention group to a comparator group/s, in either a quasi-controlled trial [32], a randomized [35] or non-randomized cluster trial [34], or a randomized controlled trial [33,36,39,41,42]. Five studies did not have a comparator group [31,37,38,40,43]. Of the eight studies with comparator groups, six enlisted treatment as usual/waitlist control groups [33][34][35][36]41,42], and three had active comparator groups [32,33,39].…”

“…There were 1623 participants in the 13 included studies: 1362 with dementia and/or caregivers of people with dementia; 111 with multiple sclerosis; 135 stroke survivors, and 15 with Parkinson's disease. The nutrition education programs were conducted with people with the disease [31,33,[37][38][39][40][41][42], people with the disease and their caregivers [33][34][35][36]43], and one program was conducted with only caregivers [32]. There were 875 participants in the intervention groups, and 748 participants in the comparator groups.…”

“…Most of the programs were focused solely on nutrition [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]43], while four programs included physical activity education alongside nutrition education [40][41][42]. Seven of the programs were delivered by dietitians [32,34,35,37,[39][40][41] (one of those was alongside physicians [32], and one was alongside facilitators with degrees in health education or kinesiology [40]); one was delivered by a medical student [38]; one was delivered by occupational therapists [42]. There were no details reported regarding nutrition training for non-nutrition professionals.…”