Dietary Intake in Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Dietary intake was studied in 127 diabetic patients who were admitted to our Department. The age at onset of diabetes mellitus was distributed mostly between the fourth and sixth decades. The maximum weights at or prior to onset of this disease were above the standard zone of weight in 89 diabetics (70.1%) while they were below it in 4 diabetics (3.1%). The body weights of 39 diabetics (30.9%) after manifestation of this disease were over the standard zone of weight whereas they were below the standard zone of weight in 26 diabetics (20.4%). Neither correlation between dietary intake and diabetic types nor between dietary intake and heredity was observed. There was a correlation between dietary intake and obesity, and an increased intake of protein and fat and of calories was found in a number of obese diabetics. Any correlation between consumption of sugar and the etiology of diabetes mellitus was not observed. An increased intake of total calories was observed in many of those cases who were well off economically, such as a university professor, an administrator of a company, and so on. In connection with the etiological factors, heredity was proven in 30 diabetics or 24 per cent, an increased intake of calories in 63 diabetics or 50 per cent, and obesity in 89 diabetics or 70 per cent. Twenty-four diabetics (19 per cent) did not have any of the above mentioned etiological factors at all. The results obtained in this study suggest that obesity and an increased dietary intake play an important role in the etiology of human diabetes mellitus.