Food and physical activity behaviours of adults attending a prediabetes education class.

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of this study was to examine food and physical activity behaviours of adults with prediabetes.

METHODS

For this cross-sectional study, adults (aged >17 years) with prediabetes (n=1228) who attended a prediabetes education class were recruited. Participants self-administered an assessment of food and physical activity behaviours using the Food Behaviour Checklist and the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire. Linear regression models were performed to identify significant relationships between food, physical activity, age, body mass index and food access variables.

RESULTS

Participants were 35.8% men with a mean age of 57.7 years (SD 11.6) and 64.2% women with a mean age of 55.2 years (13.9). Neither group was consuming adequate fruits and vegetables (17.1% for men and 29.2% for women eating 5 or more servings a day) or meeting physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes (29.5% for men and 26.2% for women). Approximately 29.0% of the entire sample "always" consumed milk or soy products. Men reported higher saturated fat intakes than women. For the entire sample, 83.4% rated their diet quality as needing improvement, and most consumed sweetened beverages (71.1% of men and 50.9% of women). Many participants (88.5%) used nutrition facts panels to choose foods. Food behaviour subscales and physical activity were significantly associated with each other and with age, body mass index and food access (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, adults with prediabetes reported less than optimal food and physical activity behaviours. Evaluation of lifestyle behaviours using simple tools like the Food Behaviour Checklist and Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire can be helpful for program design, evaluation and delivery.