Pilot Study Results for a Novel Behavior Plus Nutrition Intervention for Caregivers of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study presents results for a parent-based educational intervention targeting mealtime behaviors plus nutrition among families of young children (M age: 5.0±1.2 years) with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). METHODS: We recruited nine caregivers who participated in the six-session intervention and completed baseline and post-treatment assessments. RESULTS: Children’s mean daily glycemic levels decreased from 185±46 mg/dl to 159±40 mg/dl (p<0.001). There were also decreases in problematic parent and child mealtime behaviors. There was no change in children’s dietary intake indicators. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: It appears promising that our targeted behavior plus nutrition intervention can improve glycemic control and behavior for young children with TDM. Our next step will be to modify the intervention to improve our nutrition education modules. Ultimately, we plan to test the intervention in a large randomized clinical trial to examine if it can yield improvements to children’s diet and glycated hemoglobin levels.