P-74: Evaluation of nutritional status, dietary intake and adherence to dietary recommendations in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes
K Courtois, G Soriano, E Sernaglia, J PelicandAbstract
Introduction
Currently, the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity, even among children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D), raise questions about potential interactions between excess weight, dietary habits and the T1D management, in the aim to developing effective management strategies, particularly in the area of nutritional therapy.
Objectives
To describe dietary practices and examine the relationships between anthropometric characteristics, dietary intake and clinical diabetes characteristics in youth with T1D.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective study of youth with T1D attending our paediatric diabetes centre before the implementation of a hybrid closed-loop system (HCLS) during the last 16 months. Dietary intake was assessed using three 24-hour recalls including meal composition and carbohydrate quantities, combined with clinical and anthropometric data. Analyses focused on dietary quality, simple carbohydrate consumption and daily carbohydrate distribution.
Results
Overall, 125 children and adolescents with a mean age of 10.45 (± 4.25) years were included, (49.6% girls). Mean T1D duration was 4.7 ± 3.2 years, almost all of them were treated with an insulin pump (99.2%) and mean HbA1c was 7.4% [6.8–8.7]. The main findings show an excess weight present in 26.2% of participants (n = 32), including 18.0% overweight (n = 22) and 8.2% obesity (n = 10). 52% of youth consumed fewer than three daily servings of fruits and vegetables, while 24.0% and 40.8% had diets high in simple carbohydrates (HSC) and ultra-processed foods, respectively. A substantial proportion of snacks exceeded carbohydrate recommendations (54.1%). HSC consumption was significantly associated with overweight/obesity (p = 0.048).
Conclusions
The results revealed that the dietary quality was poor and adherence to dietary recommendations was low with insufficient fibre intake and excess HSC. It highlights the need for systematic nutritional assessment in youth with T1D to better tailor dietary education and support personalized care.