The Effect of Health Promotion Support Program on Nutrition Status and Physical Activity in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

 Diabetes is one of the diseases in which the patient plays a major role in its treatment. The comprehensive support of the treatment team, family and peers in various fields including nutritional management and physical activity is very important for this disease. Considering the importance of a healthy lifestyle, this study aims to determine the effect of a health promotion support program on nutritional status and physical activity of patients with type 2 diabetes.

 This is a quasi-experimental study that was conducted in 2020 on patients with type 2 diabetes in two intervention groups (n=30) and control (n=30) who were selected by a convenience sampling method from among those referred to the endocrinology clinic of Bank Melli Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The health promotion support program based on Orem’s theory was implemented in three stages of analyzing/identification, planning, and evaluation. Data were collected using a demographic form, a three-day food-reminder form, and a physical activity reminder form before and two months after the intervention in two groups, and were then analyzed using Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Wilcoxon test in SPSS software, version 24.

 Results showed that the mean score of eating “dairy products”, “vegetables”, “fruits”, “meat, eggs, and legumes”, “bread, cereals, starches” in the intervention group were significantly different after intervention, but this difference was not significant in the control group. The physical activity score in the intervention group also showed a significant difference (P<0.001), but this difference was not significant in the control group.

 The health promotion support program is effective in improving physical activity and nutritional status of patients with type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it is recommended to be used as an effective method to improve the lifestyle of diabetic patients.