Current Indicators of Nutritional Care in Children with Type 1 Diabetes in India: Do we Need a National Nutritional Guideline?

• Published in: Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism Vol. 21; no. 5; pp. 670 - 678
• Main Authors: Kalra, Sanjay, Das, Ashok Kumar, Raghupathy, P, Chowdhury, Subhankar, Saboo, Banshi D, Dinakaran, P, Chugh, Shuchy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.09.2017; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Blood glucose; Blood pressure; Care and treatment; Children & youth; Consultants; Diabetes; Diet; Dietary recommendations; Endocrinology; Exercise; Food; Glucose; Health aspects; healthy recipes; Insulin; Methods; Nutrition; nutritional guidelines; Nutritional requirements; Original; Pediatrics; Physical fitness; psychosocial beliefs; Questionnaires; regional cuisine; Teaching; Teenagers; Type 1 diabetes; India; Dietary recommendations; psychosocial beliefs; regional cuisine; nutritional guidelines; healthy recipes
• ISSN: 2230-8210; 2230-9500
• DOI: 10.4103/ijem.IJEM_183_17

Nutrition is an important pillar of management in children with type 1 diabetes. Indian food is heavily influenced by region, religion, traditions, seasons, and cultural choices. This survey was done to assess current practices and the need for India specific nutritional guidelines for children with type 1 diabetes. Two 12-item questionnaires were administered to forty health-care professionals across India. The first questionnaire evaluated current clinical practice indicators for nutrition in these children and second assessed practices for counseling a child on dietary habits. There is great heterogeneity across the country with regard to dietary advice offered to children with type 1 diabetes. 97.5% of the respondents feel there is a need for an Indian dietary guideline for children with type 1 diabetes. There is need of India specific nutritional guidelines that should be made considering key variants such as age, region, cultural preference, economic burden and psychosocial beliefs, to offer guidance to diabetes care professionals.