Diet of Adolescents With and Without Diabetes

• Published in: Diabetes care Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 982 - 987
• Main Authors: Helgeson, Vicki S., Viccaro, Laura, Becker, Dorothy, Escobar, Oscar, Siminerio, Linda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Diabetes Association 01.05.2006
• ISSN: 0149-5992; 1935-5548
• DOI: 10.2337/dc05-2197

Diet of Adolescents With and Without Diabetes Trading candy for potato chips? Vicki S. Helgeson , PHD 1 , Laura Viccaro , BA 1 , Dorothy Becker , MBBCH 2 , Oscar Escobar , MD 2 and Linda Siminerio , PHD 3 1 Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2 Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Children’s Hospital and University of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 3 University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute, University of Pittburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Address correspondence and reprint requests to Vicki S. Helgeson, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail: vh2e{at}andrew.cmu.edu Abstract OBJECTIVE —To compare the dietary intake of adolescents with type 1 diabetes with that of adolescents without diabetes matched on age, sex, and year in school and to compare the diets of both groups with recommendations. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —Participants were 132 adolescents with type 1 diabetes, recruited from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and 131 adolescents without diabetes ranging in age from 10.70 to 14.21 years. Dietary intake was assessed with three 24-h recall interviews with each participant and one parent. Percentage of calories from protein, carbohydrates, and total fat; amount of each type of fat; and amount of cholesterol, fiber, and sugar were calculated as averages across 3 days. RESULTS —Adolescents with diabetes took in less total energy than recommended. The percentage of calories from carbohydrates and protein were within recommendations for adolescents with and without diabetes, but adolescents with diabetes exceeded the recommended fat intake. The diet of adolescents with diabetes consisted of a greater percentage of fat and protein and a smaller percentage of carbohydrates relative to adolescents without diabetes. Adolescents without diabetes consumed more sugar, while adolescents with diabetes took in more of all components of fat than adolescents without diabetes. Male subjects with diabetes had an especially high intake of saturated fat. CONCLUSIONS —Adolescents with type 1 diabetes consume fewer calories from carbohydrates but more calories from fat than adolescents without diabetes and exceed the recommended levels of fat intake. These findings are of concern given the risk that type 1 diabetes poses for cardiovascular disease. ADA, American Diabetes Association RDA, recommended dietary allowance Footnotes A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. Accepted January 23, 2006. Received November 10, 2005. DIABETES CARE