The Impact of Nutrition Education in a Community-Based Diabetes Education Program

• Other Authors: Levenduski, Elizabeth A. (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Food
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-3106

Few studies have investigated the impact of nutrition education in community based diabetes education programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of both a diabetes program with and without a nutrition education component designed for individuals with type 2 diabetes. The diabetes program consisted of 4 classes meeting once a week for 2 hours. The basic diabetes education was provided by a licensed doctor of pharmacy; the nutrition education was provided by a graduate nutrition student. The basic diabetes education consisted of information regarding complications, medication therapy and the physical and emotional aspects of diabetes. The nutrition education focused on promotion of healthy lifestyle changes through food selection, food preparation and physical activity. Nutrition education was presented by use of food models, cooking demonstrations, food tasting and meal planning activities. Baseline metabolic parameters and six month outcomes, following completion of the interventions, were collected from 14 diabetics taking part in the basic diabetes education program (BE group) and 18 from the program with basic diabetes education plus the nutrition education component (NE group). An additional 23 individuals took part in the NE group, however, 6 month follow up data was not available for these individuals. All participants of the NE group were seen 3 months following completion of the intervention. The majority of individuals participating in this community diabetes program were African American (76%), had a high school education or less (72%) and had income less than the poverty level (56%). The majority of the sample was classified as obese (69%) and 74% exhibited glycated hemoglobin greater than the recommended === A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. === Spring Semester, 2004. === January 5, 2004. === Education, Nutrition, Diabetes === Includes bibliographical references. === Laura R. Cook, Professor Directing Thesis; Anahita M. Mistry, Committee Member; Bonnie B. Greenwood, Committee Member.