Dietary habits and adherence to dietary recommendations in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes compared with the general population in Denmark

Objectives The aim of the present study was to examine dietary habits and adherence to dietary recommendations in adult patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with the general population in Denmark. Methods The study was cross-sectional and included 426 patients with T1D and 348 patients with T2D recruited from an outpatient diabetes clinic in the capital region of Denmark.

Dietary habits were assessed by a food frequency questionnaire and compared with dietary data from 2,899 participants without diabetes from the Danish National Survey of Dietary Habits and Physical Activity. Results Patients with diabetes had a 20-50% lower intake of added sugar and alcohol, and a 10-20% higher intake of fibre and vegetables compared with the general population (p<0.001 for all).

Patients with T2D had a 37% lower intake of alcohol compared with T1D (p<0.001). Adherence to dietary recommendations (e.g. fibre, saturated fat, vegetables, fruit and fish) were low in all groups but lowest in the general population. Conclusion The Danish diet is too high in saturated fat and too low in dietary fibre, vegetable, fruit and fish compared to dietary recommendations in both patients with diabetes and the general population.

However, our data demonstrate that patients with diabetes consume a healthier diet compared to the general population: Limiting the intake of added sugar and alcohol, and increasing the intake of vegetables and dietary fibre.