Efficiency of a Nutrition Education Program in the Prediabetic Population: Is it Necessary?

Abstract

Abstract Background and aims. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) 2020 National Diabetes Statistics Report, 13% of American adults have diabetes and 34.5% meet the criteria for prediabetes. The prevalence of prediabetes increases with age. The purpose of this study was to emphasize the importance of implementing nutritional education programs for the prevention of diabetes on prediabetic population. Material and method. The study was interventional, prospective and randomized, including 218 patients with prediabetes, a representative sample for a population at risk of developing diabetes, followed and treated in a specialized center. We included patients diagnosed with prediabetes, to whom principles of nutritional education were applied. After 6 months they were reevaluated by dosing glycosylated hemoglobin. Results. 218 patients were included, with an average age of 64.6 years, of which 56.9% were female. The average body mass index was 31.8 kg/m2, with a prevalence of obesity of 61.5% of the studied population (obesity was diagnosed and staged according to WHO). Six months after the implementation of the nutritional education program, a statistically significant decrease (p=0.005) of glycosylated hemoglobin was observed, by −0.12%. This difference was maintained 12 months after enrollment (p=0.009). Conclusions Nutritional education has a major importance in the prevention of diabetes, a fact that can reduce the worldwide incidence of this pathology together with the complications that can appear related to prolonged exposure to hyperglycemia.