Food Practices and Preferences in Youth With Diabetes

Objectives. To determine where children with type 1 diabetes eat andwith whom, how foods are prepared, their favorite foods, and food issues orconflicts regarding both portioning foods and types of food eaten and toexamine the multiple factors that influence food intake in thispopulation. Methods. Parent-child pairs ( n = 299) completed aquestionnaire that focused on where and with whom children eat and how theirfood is prepared. χ 2 tests and ANOVA were calculated todetermine differences between child and parent responses. Results. As reported by parents, children (78%) eat meals at homewith the family 4–6 or more meals per week; 21% eat at home alone4–6 or more meals per week; 27% eat at fastfood restaurants 2–3 ormore meals per week, and 72% eat school lunch 2–3 or more times per week(58% almost every day). Confusion regarding portion skills was reported by13%, 52% measure by “eye balling” only (estimating portionssizes), and 47% would like more information on portioning. Among parents, 37%reported disagreements with children over choices of food, and 28% reporteddisagreements over food portion sizes; 5% did not care about food portioningat all. Cooking from scratch was reported by 71% to occur ≥ 4 times perweek (out of 21 meals per week), and 65% reported cooking prepackaged meals atleast 2–3 times per week. Conclusion s. Suggestions for eating at fast-food restaurants andschools; food-portioning skills for home, school, restaurants, and homes offriends; cooking from scratch and from prepackaged foods; incorporatingfavorite foods; and reading labels on prepackaged foods should be addressedfor effective educational sessions.