610-P: Comparison of Dietary Habits among Rural Americans With and Without Diabetes

Abstract

Introduction: Residents of rural communities face unique geographic challenges in accessing food and healthcare, which may contribute to poor diet quality and increase the risk of diabetes. We compared Alternative Healthy Eating Index (aHEI) scores among residents with and without a history of diabetes from a rural county in New York known to have poor health outcomes. Methods: In 2021, we performed a cross-sectional survey and validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) among residents in Sullivan County, NY, a rural county that has the second-worst health outcomes among all counties in New York. We compared overall total aHEI scores and the 11 component scores of the aHEI between 155 rural participants with diabetes and 961 without a history of diagnosed diabetes. Results: We found statistically lower healthy eating scores among rural study participants with diabetes compared to those without diabetes (p=0.01). While the overall magnitude of this difference in total aHEI was not large (54.1 versus 56.7), our analysis of aHEI component scores found that study participants with diabetes had statistically worse eating habits for nuts/legumes, red meat, trans-fats, and alcoholic drinks (p-values of 0.036, 0.001, 0.002 and 0.002 respectively). Notably, one category where rural residents with diabetes had better eating habits than those without diabetes was for sugary beverages/juice. Discussion: Our study found worse eating habits among rural residents with diabetes compared to those without diabetes in a rural county with particularly poor health outcomes. Additionally, this study highlights the potential need for accessible nutritional education in high-risk rural communities. While study participants with diabetes on average, consumed fewer sugary beverages and juice, more attention may need to be focused on reducing other food categories that might increase the risk of poor glycemic control. Disclosure M.Rony: None. C.Quintero arias: None. N.N.Wise: None. A.Prabu: None. K.Doran: None. R.Anthopolos: None. B.Elbel: None. L.Thorpe: None. D.C.Lee: None. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK124400)