Benefits of adding food education sessions to an exercise programme on cardiovascular risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes

Autores da FMUP

• Elisabete Da Conceição Pereira Ramos

  Autor

Participantes de fora da FMUP

• Vasconcelos, CEGD
• Cabral, MMLGF
• Mendes, RDC

Unidades de investigação

• Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses, e Educação Médica

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of adding food education sessions to an exercise programme on cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged and older patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), a randomised parallel-group study was performed. Glycated haemoglobin, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fat mass (FM) and blood pressure were assessed at baseline and after 9 months. The recruitment was made in three primary healthcare centres from Vila Real, Portugal. Thirty-three patients (65.4 +/- 5.9 years old) were engaged in a 9-month community-based lifestyle intervention programme: a supervised exercise programme (EX; n = 15; combined aerobic, resistance, agility/balance and flexibility exercise; three sessions per week; 75 min per session); or the same exercise programme plus concomitant food education sessions (EXFE; n = 18; 15-min lectures and dual-task strategies during exercise (answer nutrition questions while walking); 16 weeks). Significant differences between groups were identified in the evolution of BMI (P < 0.001, eta(2)(p) = 0.150) and FM (P < 0.001, eta(2)(p) = 0.130), with best improvements observed in the EXFE group. The addition of a simple food education dietary intervention to an exercise programme improved body weight and composition, but not glycaemic control and blood pressure in middle-aged and older patients with T2D.

Keywords

• Cardiovascular risk factors; Exercise programme; Food education sessions; Type 2 diabetes