AUTHOR=Sharma Anshul , Lulu Chen , Song Kee-Ho , Lee Hae-Jeung 

TITLE=Differences in health behavior and nutrient intake status between diabetes-aware and unaware Korean adults based on the Korea national health and nutrition examination survey 2016–18 data: A cross-sectional study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1005369

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.1005369

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional intakes and treatment regimens of Korean patients with type 2 diabetes who were aware of their condition.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Participants (<italic>n</italic> = 16582) aged ≥ 19 years from the 2016–18 National Health and Nutrition Survey were divided into diabetes-aware and unaware groups and the variables were compared.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Among 1,906 (11.5%) diabetic adults, 1,433 (75.2%) were aware of their condition; 130 (9.1%) had nutrition education, and 1,340 (93.5%) were in the diabetes-aware treatment group. The diabetes-aware group had higher average age (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.0001) and lower average BMI (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0015) than the unaware group. Intake of total fat (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0034), saturated fatty acids (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0021), riboflavin (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0035) and niacin (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0228) was significantly higher in the unaware group than in the diabetes-aware group, after adjusting energy intake for age and sex. Current smoking (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0046) and heavy drinking (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.0001) rates were higher in the unaware group, whereas fiber intake (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0054) was lower in the unaware group. Higher levels of glycated hemoglobin were found in the group treated for diabetes (7.2%) than in the no-treatment (6.8%) group (<italic>P</italic> = 0.0048). Diabetes control was significantly better in the high income group.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>There is a need to strengthen nutritional education to prevent diabetes and improve the health status of diabetic patients in Korea.</p></sec>