RECOMENDAÇÕES DIETÉTICAS NA DIABETES: RIGOR DA INFORMAÇÃO E QUALIDADE DOS SITES PORTUGUESES

To assess the diabetes nutritional information accuracy and quality in Portuguese websites are the objectives of this study. A cross-sectional, observational and analytical study was conducted. Four independent searches were performed on Google using the Advanced Search tool, selecting the Portuguese language and the Portugal region with combinations of keywords like: diabetes and nutrition; diabetes and food; diabetes and dietetics; diabetes and diet. After applying the exclusion criteria, there were 167 remaining search results, which were assessed using a checklist containing criteria related to nutritional information for diabetes, based on the American Diabetes Association Guidelines and criteria related to websites quality assessment. Considering the accuracy of the nutritional information, it was found that Portuguese websites reached an average score of 24.77 points out of 57. Websites’ quality achieved an average score of 4.96 points out of 11. The poor accuracy on nutritional information for Diabetes of Portuguese websites, highlights the importance of supervision and legal regulation, as well as a public health campaign to advise patients to search out to health professionals for an adequate care, in particular to a dietitian for DM dietary recommendations.