Abstract
Objectives
Dietary management is considered to be one of the cornerstones of diabetes care. There is a lack of data on the dietary practice of diabetic patients, which underestimates its role in the management of diabetes. Hence, this study assessed the level of dietary practices and their associated factors among Type2 diabetic patients in Hawassa city, Sidama Region, Ethiopia.
Results
Nearly forty-seven percent (46.8%) of the patients had poor knowledge about diabetes. More than half of the respondents (54.5%) were overweight and obese. The levels of dietary practice among 171 (44.2%) type 2 diabetic patients were poor. Very low monthly income [AOR = 4.87; 95% CI :(1.20-19.81], taking insulin regimen [AOR = 2.36; 95% CI :(1.13–4.91)], taking both insulin injection and oral medication [AOR = 11.26; 95% CI: (3.05–41.54)], not getting DM education in hospital [AOR = 2.72; 95% CI :( 1.08–6.85)], despondency [AOR = 3.71; 95% CI:(1.39–9.89), lack of support from family and friends about dietary plan [AOR = 5.64;95% CI (2.66,11.92)], unavailability of fruits and vegetables[AOR = 3.04;95% CI:(1.11–8.34)] were the factors significantly associated with the poor dietary practice.