Outcomes of Culturally Tailored Dietary Intervention in the North African and Bangladeshi Diabetic Patients in Italy

Abstract

Immigrants show higher adjusted diabetes prevalence than Italians, especially among South-East Asians followed by North and Sub-Saharan Africans. Diabetes progression is influenced by food behaviors, and diet control is a critical aspect in disease management. Food habits have many cultural and symbolic implications. Guidelines recommend that every patient should receive appropriate self-management education according to cultural and socioeconomic characteristics. This study aims to test whether a customized diet and transcultural mediator’s support can improve immigrants’ food habits. A pre-post quali-quantitative study was conducted among 20–79-year-old Bangladeshi and North African diabetic immigrants. The INMP transcultural mediator, an expert in the social and health care field, actively participates in clinical activity by decoding linguistic and cultural needs expressed by the foreigner patient. Five culturally tailored dietary profiles were designed according to international diabetes guidelines and adjusted to traditional food habits. Data were collected with two different semi-structured questionnaires. Changes in food consumption were assessed through McNemar’s test, while paired Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test was used to analyze pre and post intervention. Fifty-five patients were enrolled. At follow-up, cereals, meat, and potatoes intake significantly improved, and the number of adequate dietary habits for each patient increased significantly. Transcultural mediator support was 90% positively evaluated. Adherence to dietary control is favorably influenced by a transcultural intervention, which is based on clinical and socio-cultural criteria, in compliance with patient’s lifestyles.

Individual, Family, and Socioeconomic Contributors to Dental Caries in Children from Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…Still, even if the optimal threshold of <5% free sugar consumption endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) is achieved, there is a risk of dental caries [ 61 ]. Educational strategies focusing on improving nutrient quality by maintaining food costs are needed to subsidize healthier culturally relevant recipe ingredients and minimize in-school sales of SSBs and sugary snacks [ 62 ]. Similarly, as children start weaning, parental dietary practices are a major influence since healthy eating behaviors are emulated by children [ 63 ].…”

Discovering Elements and Developing Strategies to Implement the Tailored Care Education for Patients with Diabetes through A Systematic Review

“…Diabetes patients impressed with medically adjusted meals, emphasizing the value of culturally acceptable food, refer to patient values. A transcultural intervention based on clinical and socio-cultural factors and tailored to the patients' lifestyles improves adherence to dietary restriction (Piombo et al, 2020). Through interprofessional collaboration, health professionals can provide group didactic teaching.…”

“…Medically customized meals improved dietary pattern then decreased hypoglycemia. A transcultural intervention based on clinical and socio-cultural factors and tailored to the patients' lifestyles improves adherence to dietary restriction (Piombo et al, 2020). For tailored care education, several professional recommendations are divided diabetic patients into extremely high/high, moderate, or low risk groups.…”

“…Other processes in assessing patients' self-management level and characteristics include guiding the construct lists of their requirements, prioritize, personalized purpose, and personalized plans to achieve their objective (Holmen et al, 2017;Liddy et al, 2016;O'Neil et al, 2016;Piombo et al, 2020). This process can provide diabetic patients with specialized care and allow for the creation of a treatment plan based on more accurate diagnosis and care, resulting in improved treatment and care efficacy (de Sequeira et al, 2019).…”

Food Safety, Security, Sustainability and Nutrition as Priority Objectives of the Food Sector

“…The quasi-experimental pilot study assessed the effects of a pilot community-based behavioral intervention on the home food environment in U.S. [10]. In Italy, the results of a culturally tailored dietary intervention in diabetic patients from North Africa and Bangladesh were investigated by Piombo et al [11]. Chen and Lin [12] have investigated and constructed the important and appropriate factors for designing a green café ambiance and empirically analyzed indicators with high operability that are suitable for green café ambience design.…”