Children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes eat a more atherosclerosis-prone diet than healthy control subjects.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We evaluated how well the diet of Norwegian children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes fulfils the Nordic and European dietary recommendations, focusing on parameters affecting prevention of atherosclerosis. We also compared the diet of this patient group with that of healthy same-age control subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 177 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (9-10-year-olds, 12-13-year-olds) and 1,809 healthy same-age control subjects recorded their food intake for 4 days in precoded food diaries.

RESULTS

In children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes the percentage of energy (E%) from fat (33-35 E%) and saturated fat (14-15 E%) was higher than recommended for that group. Furthermore their intake of fibre was lower (16-19 g/day) than current recommendations. There were no differences in energy intake between diabetic subjects and healthy control subjects. Percentage of energy from fat (mean difference: 3.4 E%, p < 0.001) and saturated fat (mean difference: 1.0 E%, p < 0.001) was significantly higher among diabetic subjects than control subjects. Intake of fruits and vegetables was low (210 g/day) compared with recommendations, both in the diabetic and control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Diabetic children and adolescents had a high intake of energy from saturated fat and low intake of fibre, fruits and vegetables, which could increase the risk of development of atherosclerosis. This study supports the idea that nutritional guidance in the treatment of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes should be more focused, especially with regard to intake of fibre, fruits and vegetables and to quality and quantity of fat intake.