ABSTRACT
The aim of our study is to evaluate the effect of nutritional education (applied during young diabetic camps) on the nutrition knowledge acquisition and the effective application of this knowledge by young diabetics in their dietary intake composition. This study included ten volunteers pupils, aged from 12 to 15 years. Each meal provided was quantified before and after consumption to determine during three consecutive days the exact amount of food consumed. Our results showed that the young diabetic could regulate his energetic intake in accordance with his needs. He didn't modify the proposed food when it was normocaloric (2615 +/- 390 Kcal), but he increased his food intake near the recommended needs when the proposed food was hypocaloric (1766 +/- 283 Kcal) and decreased his consumption when the proposed food was hypercaloric (4271 +/- 511 Kcal). Moreover, this study showed a significant negative correlation between the total energy intake and the amount of carbohydrates (r = -0.46, p < 0.01) and proteins (r = -0.70, p < 0.01), while it was positive between the first and lipid intake (r = 0.63, p < 0.01).
