Evaluation of dietary adherence and body mass index of diabetics attending outpatient clinic of Federal medical centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria

Abstract

Background:  Abundant literature supports the benefits of diet and exercise recommendations for improving and maintaining glycemic levels of people with diabetes mellitus especially type 2 patients.However, reasons for nonadherence amongst diabetics are very complex and multifaceted in nature.
Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the dietary adherence and body mass index of diabetes patient attending the outpatient clinic of Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba,  Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Methods: Convenient sampling was used to select 200 participants, demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the participants were obtained, anthropometric measurements were taken and used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). Data obtained were analyzed using SPPS version 20.0.
Results: The result showed that 52% were females, 48% males and majority (80.3%) of the participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. About 83.8% were above 40 years old, 60% were overweight and 59.3% were observed not to adhere to dietary regime. The main reasons for non-adherence to diet were eating out (41.1%), financial constraints (24.1%), inappropriate dietary habit (14.5%) and poor self-control (10.3%).  About 84% of the participants agreed that diet and exercise could improve and maintain their glycemic control.
Conclusion: The rate of non-adherence to dietary recommendations was high among the study population. Diabetes education is needed to improve dietary habits to ensure good nutritional status and prevent complications.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, diet, adherence, body mass index