• Beatriz Correia Rodriguez, Inês Rosendo, Tânia Isabel Santos Coelho, Patrícia Duarte Mendes, Gabriela Dos Santos Rodrigues, Ângela Faustino Francisco, Ana Sofia Cerqueira Martins, Tânia Boto, Filipe Guerra Fernandes, Ângela Figueiredo Costa, Cristina Lamarão, Inês Miguéis Ferreira, Joana Andrade Glória, Inês Vicente Osório, Tiago Daniel Couto Gonçalves, André Rosas Pereira, Ana Salomé Almeida Guedes, Celine Fernandes Mendes, Susana Pires da Silva, Afonso Carvalhal, Patrícia Vasconcelos Costa, and Bruno Alves Dos Reis.
• Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Coimbra. Portugal.
• Acta Medica Port. 2024 Jan 3; 37 (1): 273527-35.

IntroductionNutrition is a cornerstone of diabetes mellitus prevention and management; therefore, it is essential to enable patients to adopt healthy eating habits. Previous studies have not yet documented the main errors in the eating habits of Portuguese people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study aims to identify the main errors in the eating habits of people living with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Portugal and to evaluate its associations with sociodemographic variables.MethodsCross-sectional multicentric study in a convenience sample of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Primary Health Care Units. The UK Diabetes and Diet Questionnaire (UKDDQ) - translated and adapted, was applied from July to October 2022. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted.ResultsOf the 550 participants, 52.2% were female, 68.3% were 65 years or over, 55.8 % had an education level up to the fourth grade, 24.7% had economic deprivation, and the mean time since diagnosis was 10.60 ± 8.13 years. Only 36.2% of the sample had a healthy UKDDQ score. Less than 50% of the sample had healthy scores for the items "high-fiber rice or pasta", "high-fiber bread", "butter, margarine and vegetable oils" and "vegetables and pulses". Only 8.9% of the sample had a healthy consumption of fiber. About 70.4% reported healthy scores for the consumption of "high-added-sugar foods" and 54.7% for "high-saturated fat". A statistically significant weak positive correlation was found between the UKDDQ score and age (ρ = 0.201, p < 0.001) with a more frequent choice of healthy foods with increasing age. Female respondents reported healthier habits, particularly in the consumption of "high-saturated fat" and "high-fiber foods".ConclusionThe majority of our sample did not take advantage of the potential benefits of healthy eating habits. The main food groups whose consumption should be emphasized or discouraged were individualized, particularly the need to encourage the consumption of high-fiber foods. Targeted educational actions must focus especially on younger and/or male patients.

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