A Survey About Carbohydrate Intake in Type 2 Diabetes Patients at Outpatient Clinic

Abstract

We carried out a field survey on the carbohydrate intake of type-2 diabetes mellitus outpatients (male: 33 subjects, female: 39 subjects, age: 69±10 years, BMI: 24.4±4.1 kg/m², HbA1c: 8.2±0.8 %) who had an HbA1c concentration of ≥7.0 % in order to investigate the factors associated with following nutrition therapies that focus on an individual's carbohydrate intake. The mean energy intake was 1566±342 kcal, while the mean carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake was 215.1±49.0 g (percentage energy: 57.7±6.8 %), 58.8±14.7 g (percentage energy: 15.1±2.4 %), and 47.8±15.5 g (percentage energy: 27.2±5.3 %), respectively. The mean BMI of the patients with a carbohydrate energy percentage of <50 % was 26.9±7.5 kg/m², which was greater in comparison to the other two groups. The subjects with carbohydrate energy of ≥60 % were relatively older and their percentage of protein energy (12.9 %) was significantly lower in comparison to the other groups. The results suggested the importance of indicating the appropriate amount of carbohydrates for each patient (taking their age, gender, body type, and tastes into consideration, with an understanding of a patient's carbohydrate intake) to nutritional therapy that aims to control the glucose levels of patients with diabetes mellitus.