Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Tend to Select Low-Carbohydrate, Low-Calorie Food Menus at Home on Diet Application

Abstract

(1) Background: From the perspective of patient-centered care, it is important for medical professionals involved in diabetes care to know the role of choice behavior when individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus select their meals at home. In Japan, online meal management applications are widely used to help individuals to prepare healthy, colorful, and tasty meals. (2) Objective: To assess menu selection from an online diet management application in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus over a period of 24 months. (3) Method: The saved data of the selected food menus on the online diet management application were analyzed. We identified specific nutritional groups of the food menus, called nutritional clusters, by clustering the multidimensional data of the nutrients after de-dimensioning them. Then, we analyzed the constitutional nutrients of each nutritional cluster with the highest and lowest frequencies of selection by the users of the application. (4) Results: In all, 9674 food menus made by 3164 people were included in the analysis, and 12 nutritional clusters were identified. Low-carbohydrate and low-calorie food clusters showed the highest selection frequency. The average caloric value of 149.7 kcal and average carbohydrate ratio of 47% in the cluster with the highest selection frequency were significantly lower than the average caloric value of 435.2 kcal and carbohydrate ratio of 63% in the cluster with the lowest selection frequency (p < 0.001, respectively). (5) Conclusion: Individuals with type 2 diabetes in this population preferred to select lower-carbohydrate and lower-calorie food menus at home using online diet management applications. To improve sustained self-management and quality of life, medical professionals may consider incorporating preferred dietary behaviors into medical management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.