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A survey of the use of special food products by diabetics
Author(s) -
Fairchild R. M.,
Daniels C. E. J.,
Ellis P. R.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-277x.1990.tb00241.x
Subject(s) - medicine , palatability , diabetes mellitus , food group , squash , environmental health , endocrinology , archaeology , pathology , history
A food frequency of consumption questionnaire was completed by 137 diabetic outpatients attending the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff, to provide information about the use of special dietary products. Seventy‐four per cent of the diabetics used special dietary products, the most popular of which were artificial sweeteners (45%) and preserves (47%), followed by squash (34%), sweets (31%) and chocolate (31%). Twenty per cent of diabetics consumed biscuits and tinned fruit. Cake and other products (e.g. jelly), were used by less than 10% of the respondents. Over half of all the diabetics consumed one or more products on a daily basis. The use of special products bore no significant relationship to the sex of the respondents, nor to the duration of the diabetes. However, a significantly higher proportion of the Insulin Dependent Diabetics (IDDM) group used dietary products compared with the Non‐Insulin Dependent Diabetics (NIDDM) group. This can be explained largely by the differences in age between the diabetics; the under‐18‐year‐old age group (who were all IDDM respondents) were the greatest users of sweets, chocolate and squash. Forty‐three per cent of diabetics who did not use special food products cited at least one reason for non‐use. The reasons included dietetic advice (NIDDM respondents only), high cost, poor palatability, lack of availability and unsuitability for other members of the family.