Food, nutrition and physical activity in diabetic children and adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a specific organ metabolic disease characterized by the progressive destruction and loss of pancreatic β cells.

Objective: Asses the diet, nutrition and physical activity according to metabolic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: Assessment study with cross-sectional design in 81 patients attended at "William Soler" University Pediatric Hospital, from 2016 to 2019. Patients were distributed in two groups according to the values of glycosylated hemoglobin (metabolic control: n=39, and without metabolic control: n=42). The following variables were measured: food, nutrition and physical activity through inferential analysis (variance analysis, Ji-square´s corrected independence, contingency coefficient and odds ratio).

Results: The mean of glycosylated hemoglobin in controlled diabetics was 6.1 % and in non-controlled ones it was 11.0 %; significantly different (p= 0.000). The female sex and the adolescents exceeded the 50 % in both controlled and non-controlled groups, respectively. Breastfeeding was inadequate (> 60 %), eutrophic diabetics were more than 70 %, the start of feeding was early (> 45 %), metabolic control was dependent on diet quality and physical activity. In the inadequate metabolic control: 47.6 % ³ 5 years exercised less than 3 times per week and 52.4 % consumed a high calorie diet.

Conclusion: Physical activity and diet quality influence metabolic control of diabetes in the studied population.