Objective: This pilot cross-sectional study explored differences in dietary intake and eating behaviors between healthy adults and a group of adults taking insulin to manage diabetes.
Methods: A characteristic questionnaire and up to four Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour dietary recalls were collected from 152 adults aged 18-65 years (96 healthy and 56 adults taking insulin) from Indiana and across the U.S. from 2022 to 2023. The macronutrient intake, diet quality via the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015, eating frequency, and consistency of timing of eating were calculated and compared between the two groups using adjusted linear or logistic regression models.
Results: The total mean HEI scores were very low, at 56 out of 100 and 49 out of 100 for the healthy and insulin-taking groups, respectively. Insulin-taking adults had significantly lower HEI total (p = 0.003) and component scores compared to the healthy group for greens and beans (2.0 vs. 3.0, p = 0.02), whole fruit (2.1 vs. 2.9, p = 0.05), seafood and plant proteins (2.1 vs. 3.3, p = 0.004), and saturated fats (3.7 vs. 5.4, p = 0.05). Eating frequency was significantly lower in the insulin-taking group than in the healthy group (3.0 vs. 3.4 eating occasions/day, p = 0.05).
Conclusion: Evidence of the low diet quality and eating frequency of insulin takers may help inform and justify nutrition education to control and manage diabetes.
Keywords: adults; diabetes; diet quality; eating frequency; eating time; insulin.