ABSTRACT

This study assessed the dietary adherence among diabetes patients attending Federal Medical Center (FMC) Umudike, Abia state. A multi- stage sampling technique was used to select a total number of 84 diabetes patients. Data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics of patients, the dietary pattern, adherence to dietary recommendation, mitigating factors to adherence to dietary recommendation, lifestyle and attitude of the patients, and the  relationship between  dietary adherence and socio economic characteristics of the patients were collected using well structured and validated questionnaire. The IBM SPSS version 22.0 computer programme as used to analyze the data .Data obtained were presented using  frequency  and percentage. And in SPSS, Correlation method was used to determine the relationship between dietary adherence and socio-economic characteristicship. The results from the study revealed that (35.7%) of the respondent were male and (64.3%) of the respondent were female. And (13.1%) of respondents were between 18-28 years while (28.6%) of them were between 29-39 years and (28.6%) of them were between 40-49 years and also (29.8%) were between 50 years and above. The study result showed that  (72.6%) of the respondents were on a special diet and (39.3%) of them were placed on low carbohydrate diet/low glycemic diet/Omega-3 fatty acid, (27.4%) of them were placed on high protein diet and (0%) of the respondents were placed on high calories diet while the respondents that liked the food recommended for them by their dietician were (47.6%) and (25.0%) of the respondents did not like the food recommended for them by the dietician, which shows that the respondent that adhere to the diet recommended for them are higher than the respondents that did not adhere to the diet recommended for them by their dieticians. The study result also showed the highest respondent that adhere to their healthy eating plan with the maximum of four times were (34.5%) which shows that good number of the respondents adhere. And the highest percentage of the respondents that adhere to the eating serving of their fruits and vegetables were (26.2%) with the highest number of five times per servings. Future research should focus on developing interventions to improve dietary adherence among this population. Possible interventions include education programs on healthy eating, access to nutrition counseling, and food assistance programs to help patients access healthy foods. With the right support, patients can better manage their diabetes and improve their health. And also, one of the main implications is that a lack of adherence to a healthy diet can have serious consequences for patients with diabetes. This is because poor diet can lead to increased blood sugar levels, which can cause complications such as kidney disease, nerve damage, and cardiovascular problems. In addition, non-adherence can increase the risk of hospitalization and death. Therefore, improving dietary adherence among this population is critical to improving health outcomes.