Concurso de comida para diabéticos. Otra forma de educar

OBJECTIVE: To employ a different and appetizing method of food education. DESIGN: A descriptive, crossover, observational study. SETTING: Las Fuentes Norte Health Centre, Zaragoza, jointly with a civic centre in the neighbourhood. PARTICIPANTS: 54 people out of a population of 492,521 (over 15). One was excluded and 21 dishes were chosen. INTERVENTION: Composing posters with a day's complete menu, including one of the dishes chosen in each menu. Choice of the three best dishes presented. RESULTS: 18.8% of the dishes selected were proposed by diabetics (with a mean of 387.22 +/- 150.72 calories, SD 171.95, with 30.74% proteins, 25.59% lipids and 43.65% CH). 24.5% were proposed by carers (mean of 378.1 +/- 103.86 calories, SD 118.65, with 30.89% proteins, 31.11% lipids and 37.99% CH). 30% were proposed by members of diabetics' families (mean of 197.43 mame 149.33 calories, SD 152.38, with 36.3% proteins, 20.07% lipids and 43.61% CH). 26.5% of dishes bore no relationship to this disease (mean of 422.15 +/- 148.09 calories, SD 199.91 and 31.15% proteins, 34.23% lipids and 34.6% CH), with no statistical significance between the different groups. Using the data of the means calculated as a basis, we obtained a meal of 1,141.3 calories with 29.3% proteins, 29.6% lipids and 41.1% CH. CONCLUSIONS: Combining the results in one meal would not only give a high amount of calories, but a high proportion of proteins, mainly at the expense of CH.