Adherence to diet on diabetic patients: effects of an intervention program

<p>The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of an intervention program on the self-reported adherence to a prescribed diet for diabetic patients. Because of the impact and consequences of this chronic illness, it is important to make the necessary efforts in order to achieve this dietary adherence goal, since diet is one of the main bases for the treatment of diabetes. According to an interbehavioral approach, an intervention program was designed and applied to ninety diabetic patients from different Mexican public health institutions. This program was developed in three stages. The first stage consisted of a pre-test to assess body weight and habits related to daily meals. The second stage comprehended an intervention divided in two parts, the first one to provide patients with useful knowledge about diabetes and nutrition and the second one to train several behavioral techniques a post-test was applied to participants. Results showed that each intervention’s part had a positive effect on self-reported adherence to diet, and so the complete program. These results were supported by weight data. In this sense, it was found a statistically significant difference between pre and post-test values. It is suggested to continue these efforts in order to contribute on the solution of this public health problem.