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Adherence to special diets and its association with meeting the nutrient recommendations in individuals with type 1 diabetes

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Abstract

Aims

Not much is known about adherence to special diets in type 1 diabetes, characteristics of individuals with special diets, and whether such practices should raise concerns with respect to meeting the dietary recommendations. In this study, we assessed the frequencies of adherence to special diets, in a population of individuals with type 1 diabetes, and investigated the association between special diet adherence and dietary intake, measured as dietary patterns and nutrient intakes.

Methods

During the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study visit, participants with type 1 diabetes (n = 1429) were instructed to complete a diet questionnaire inquiring about the adherence to special diets. The participants also completed a food record, from which energy and nutrient intakes were calculated.

Results

In all, 36.6% participants reported adhering to some special diet. Most commonly reported special diets were lactose-free (17.1%), protein restriction (10.0%), vegetarian (7.0%), and gluten-free (5.6%) diet. Special diet adherents were more frequently women, older, had longer diabetes duration, and more frequently had various diabetes complications. Mean carbohydrate intakes were close to the lower levels of the recommendation in all diet groups, which was reflected in low mean fibre intakes but high frequencies of meeting the sucrose recommendations. The recommendation for saturated fatty acid intake was frequently unmet, with the highest frequencies observed in vegetarians. Of the micronutrients, vitamin D, folate, and iron recommendations were most frequently unmet, with some differences between the diet groups.

Conclusions

Special diets are frequently followed by individuals with type 1 diabetes. The adherents are more frequently women, and have longer diabetes duration and more diabetes complications. Achieving the dietary recommendations differed between diets, and depended on the nutrient in question. Overall, intakes of fibre, vitamin D, folate, and iron fell short of the recommendations.

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Acknowledgements

The skilled technical assistance of Anna Sandelin, Mira Korolainen, and Jaana Tuomikangas is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge all the physicians and nurses at each centre participating in the collection of patients (online appendix).

Funding

This study was supported by grants from Academy of Finland, Novo Nordisk Foundation, Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Folkhälsan Research Foundation, Wilhelm and Else Stockmann Foundation, Liv och Hälsa Foundation, the Helsinki University Central Hospital Research Funds, Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation, and Diabetes Wellness Finland. Funding agencies did not contribute to the study design, conduct of the study, data analysis, interpretation of the findings, writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, University of Helsinki, Biomedicum Helsinki C318b, PO Box 63, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    A. J. Ahola, C. Forsblom & Per-Henrik Groop

  2. Abdominal Center Nephrology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    A. J. Ahola, C. Forsblom & Per-Henrik Groop

  3. Research Programs Unit, Diabetes and Obesity, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    A. J. Ahola, C. Forsblom & Per-Henrik Groop

  4. Department of Diabetes, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Per-Henrik Groop

Authors
  1. A. J. Ahola
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  2. C. Forsblom
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  3. Per-Henrik Groop
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Per-Henrik Groop.

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Conflict of interest

Professor Per-Henrik Groop has received research grants from Eli Lilly and Roche, is an advisory board member for AbbVie, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Cebix, Eli Lilly, Janssen, MSD, Medscape, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi. He has received lecture honoraria from Astra Zeneca, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Elo Water, Genzyme, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical standard

All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Managed by Massimo Federici.

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Supplementary material 1 (PDF 12 KB)

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Ahola, A.J., Forsblom, C. & Groop, PH. Adherence to special diets and its association with meeting the nutrient recommendations in individuals with type 1 diabetes. Acta Diabetol 55, 843–851 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-018-1159-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-018-1159-2

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