Changes in food choices of recently diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetic patients.

Current food use and habitual food use prior to the diagnosis of diabetes were measured using a food frequency questionnaire in a group of recently diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Patients (51 m, 29 f) were between the ages of 20 and 40 years and had been diagnosed as insulin-dependent diabetics less than 6 months prior to the study. The results show that patients after the diagnosis of diabetes reduce their consumption of foods and beverages with high sugar content, of snacks and of foods from the dairy and meat group with high fat content, and incorporate foods with low fat content into their pattern of food consumption. Some of the changes have been less favourable from a nutritional perspective such as the increased consumption of diabetic specialty foods, the reduced consumption of pulses, and the lower overall food variety. In conclusion, patients are able to change their food use after the diagnosis of the insulin-dependent diabetes; however the extent to which patients will change their food choices on a long-term basis remains to be determined.