Main determinants of the fruits consumed by diabetic patients managed at the Antidiabetic Center of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

Abstract

Fruit, commonly eaten raw, contains contain some nutrients good for diabetics health. Since most fruits taste sweet, it was interesting to investigate the dietary behaviour of diabetics towards fruits in the main diabetic center in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Of a total of 846 patients surveyed of the antidiabetic center in Abidjan, 73.3% awared of the health benefits of fruit for diabetics. 48.5%, awared fruit contained free sugar considered harmful for them. Regarding frequency and fruit, 29.8% of them consumed at least one fruit one or two days and 62.2% preferred to consume whole fruits rather than fruit juices (9.7%) while almost half (44.6%) consumed them much more after the meal. As for their amount, the majority of respondents consumed an average of 1 (20.57%) or 2 (69.50%) pieces of fruit at each intake and paid attention to their degree of ripeness (58%). The most consumed fruits were orange (61.5%), apple (57.4%), sweet banana (46.1%), papaya (39.6%), and mango (29.6%), contained between 2.21 and 9.02% total free sugars and between 0.52 and 1.33% total fiber. A large proportion of diabetic patients regularly consumed them at ripe (37.1%) or very ripe (32.7%) stage, ingesting a significant amount of fast sugar. Fruit consumption should be promoted to diabetics to enable them making more healthy choices.