The facilitators and barriers to meal-planning strategies among type-1 diabetes patients in Beijing, China.
Undergraduates: Jennifer Lyu, Dr. Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, Dr. Wei Liu, Dr. Lindsay Jaacks
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Mayer-Davis
Department: Nutrition
Background and Objectives: An effective strategy for type-1 diabetes self-management includes strategic planning of dietary intake and adjustment of insulin dosing, which requires educating patients about food composition and meal planning strategies to help maintain blood glucose levels. However, despite the availability of nutrition education materials for patients with T1D in Western regions, no educational meal planning materials are available for T1D patients living in China. The objective of this study was to investigate the facilitators and barriers to meal planning strategies among type-1 diabetes patients in Beijing, China.
Methods and Study Design: Two online nutrition surveys were developed through Qualtrics Survey Software: one survey was created for T1D patients (n=100) and one survey was created for providers (n=11) from the Peking University People¿¿¿s Hospital in Beijing, China. Patients interested in participating were recruited through an online community and given a personal link to complete the survey. Providers were given an anonymous link sent by email by a collaborator of the project who is also an endocrinologist from the Peking Hospital (Dr. Wei Liu).
While results are still currently being finalized (and will be fully ready by presentation day), data collected have so far suggested limited nutrition knowledge as a possible barrier to proper self-management of type-1 diabetes with dietary intake.