The Effect of Nutrition Education on Blood Sugar Level and Macronutrients Intake in IDDM Patients in Ardabil, 1999

Diabetes is one of the most important world health problems and a chronic disease that needs continuous care. Therefore, these kinds of patients should take self- care education. This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of nutritional education on blood sugar level and macronutrients intake in IDDM patients. 24 IDDM patients under 20 were selected for educational program on nutrition. The data were collected two times using food questionnaire (24- hour recall) and blood sugar level before and after education was estimated. The data were analyzed by paired t-test, using SPSS and Food Processor. There was not statistically significant relationship between blood sugar level before and after education. Also the results showed that there was statistically significant relationship between macronutrients intake before and after education (P=0.35). After education, macronutrients were similar to WHO recommendations. HbA1C level in most of the patients was 9-12% which refers to the moderate control of this diseases and hypoglycemia decreased from 4.2% to 3%. There were no remarkable changes in blood sugar but the amount of HbA1C and Macro Nutrients showed that education had a positive effect on patients.