ABSTRACT

The study was designed to assess the nutritional status of patients with type II diabetes mellitus attending Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia. A total of 76 respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to determine their socio-economic characteristics, health information and food habits of the respondents. World Health Organization reference standards were used to categorize the anthropometric and fasting blood glucose levels. Results revealed that there were more females (57.9%) than male (42.1%) respondents involved in this study. Some (50.0%) had secondary education. Occupational status of the respondents revealed that few (35.5%) were traders. Some (40.8%) of the respondents earned 21,000-40,000 every month. Some (50.2%) of respondents were between 4-5 number in their household. Family history of type II diabetes was implicated in uncles (11.8%) and mothers (11.8%). Most (78.9%) of the respondents were diagnosed of diabetes by doctors. Some (55.3%) of the respondents managed their condition with food and drugs only. Some (48.7%) of the respondents monitored their blood glucose level on weekly basis. Few (19.7%) of the respondents had other health problem such as hypertension. Food habits revealed that some (44.7%) of the respondents consumed food twice daily. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were skipped by 30.3%, 6.6% and 7.9% respectively. None of the respondents were current smokers, while only a few (5.3%) still of them consumed alcohol. Majority (97.4%) of the respondents do obtain their meals mainly from home. Body mass index status revealed that some (52.7%) of the respondents were overweight. There were preponderance of female subjects (90.9%) with abnormal waist/hip ratio when compared to the male respondents (12.5%). Results further revealed that the mean fasting blood glucose of the respondents is 132.32 mg/dl.  Correlation analysis revealed that a strong positive association exist between blood glucose and BMI (r =0.362; P= 0.01).Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem that requires proper medical and dietary management to control high blood glucose level and its complications.