Building Competency in Diabetes Education THE ESSENTIALS

5-32 | CHAPTER 5

TOOLS FOR HEALTHY EATING

Several large studies have shown that a variety of dietary patterns may be beneficial for people with diabetes (35). However, the best-designed nutritional plan is effective only if the patient is able and willing to follow the instructions. Following a healthy pattern of eating requires knowledge to make correct food choices and motivation to alter eating behaviours. Confusion over appropriate portion sizes of foods and beverages (134) may contribute to overeating; people with diabetes should be counselled by a dietitian on appropriate serving sizes and food choices that promote greater satiety and lower energy intakes (35). Most trials of popular weight-loss diets found that dietary compliance was poor (135,136), but greater adherence was associated with greater weight loss and reductions in cardiovascular risk factors regardless of the specific diet (137). See Table 1: Properties of dietary interventions in the “Nutrition Therapy” chapter of the 2018 Guidelines. Many tools are available to assist in the nutrition education of people with diabetes. An assessment is needed to determine which of these many tools to use and should consider the following: treatment method, previous instruction (i.e. whether a specific tool has been used before and if the tool was helpful), age, eyesight and hearing, level of reading, cultural background, support system (e.g. who does the food preparation?), living conditions and resources, learning preferences, motivation to learn and readiness to change. Some examples of tools include the following: • Canada’s Food Guide (10): This resource promotes healthy eating for Canadians. It translates the science of nutrition and health into a healthy eating pattern. The food guide describes strategies to make healthy food choices each day, as well as giving some advice on how to establish healthy eating habits. • Just the Basics: Tips for Healthy Eating, Diabetes Prevention and Management (138): This resource was developed to help diabetes educators, consumers and those affected by diabetes implement nutrition guidelines. It provides “survival skills” for the patient with diabetes and should be used as a first step in SME. It is intended to convey the basic concepts important to the nutritional management of diabetes, including general guidelines for portion sizes (the “plate model”), along with two sample meal plans. This limited amount of information may be appropriate for patients in the following circumstances: o At diagnosis, when people need general guidelines and too much information may be overwhelming.