Ruhee Divya, Mahomoodally Fawzi
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, 230 Réduit, Mauritius.
J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2015 Aug 8;14:66. doi: 10.1186/s40200-015-0187-5. eCollection 2015.
Notoriously, the island of Mauritius has one of the highest prevalence of diabetes in the world. Management of the disease is very important and family meals are undoubtedly beneficial to patients as they promote the development of healthy eating behaviours and food choices. This study has aimed to probe into potential relationship(s) between family meal frequency and individual dietary intake among diabetic patients and to establish whether family cohesion may be a plausible mediator of this relationship.
A cross-sectional survey was carried out with a random sample of 384 diabetic patients. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III was used to obtain information on two general aspects of family functioning, that is, cohesiveness and adaptability. Chi-squared (χ (2)) tests, independent sample t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used to determine statistical significance. Pearson correlation was used to examine associations between family meal frequency, individual dietary intake and family cohesion. Hierarchical linear regression models were performed for the mediation analysis.
Family meal frequency (breakfast, lunch and dinner) was observed to be positively associated with intake of fish, raw vegetables, dried and fresh fruits, low-fat milk, cheese, yogurt, nuts and light butter and negatively associated with intake of red meat, white rice, white bread, whole egg fried, chocolates, fried cakes, burgers, chips, and fried noodles/rice. Average mediation (52.6 %) was indicated by family cohesion for the association between family meal frequency and individual dietary intake among diabetic patients. Sobel's test further confirmed the trend towards complete mediation (z = 15.4; P < 0.05).
A strong relationship between family meal frequency and individual dietary intake among diabetic patients was recorded. The present study is one of the few studies that have examined family cohesion as a mediator of the relationship and to our best knowledge is the first work to demonstrate a trend towards complete mediation. Results obtained can be used by health professionals to devise strategies for increasing knowledge and awareness of both diabetic patients and their respective families to curd down this public health burden.
众所周知，毛里求斯岛是世界上糖尿病患病率最高的地区之一。该疾病的管理非常重要，家庭聚餐无疑对患者有益，因为它们有助于促进健康饮食行为和食物选择的养成。本研究旨在探究糖尿病患者家庭聚餐频率与个人饮食摄入量之间的潜在关系，并确定家庭凝聚力是否可能是这种关系的合理调节因素。
对384名糖尿病患者进行随机抽样，开展横断面调查。使用家庭适应性和凝聚力评估量表III获取有关家庭功能两个总体方面的信息，即凝聚力和适应性。采用卡方（χ(2)）检验、独立样本t检验和单因素方差分析来确定统计学意义。使用皮尔逊相关性分析来检验家庭聚餐频率、个人饮食摄入量和家庭凝聚力之间的关联。进行分层线性回归模型以进行中介分析。
观察到家庭聚餐频率（早餐、午餐和晚餐）与鱼类、生蔬菜、干鲜水果、低脂牛奶、奶酪、酸奶、坚果和淡黄油的摄入量呈正相关，与红肉、白米、白面包、全蛋煎蛋、巧克力、炸糕、汉堡、薯片以及炒面/炒饭的摄入量呈负相关。家庭凝聚力对糖尿病患者家庭聚餐频率与个人饮食摄入量之间的关联显示出平均52.6%的中介作用。索贝尔检验进一步证实了完全中介的趋势（z = 15.4；P < 0.05）。
记录到糖尿病患者家庭聚餐频率与个人饮食摄入量之间存在密切关系。本研究是少数研究家庭凝聚力作为这种关系调节因素的研究之一，据我们所知，是第一项证明完全中介趋势的研究。健康专业人员可利用所得结果制定策略，以提高糖尿病患者及其各自家庭的知识和意识，从而减轻这一公共卫生负担。
