A Pilot Study Comparing the Effectiveness of Food Logging Methods Amongst Women with a Family History of Diabetes

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases are a rapidly growing problem in the United States and across the globe. Turning to insulin, surgery, and other medications to combat metabolic disease has become the norm. However, such remedies are costly and do not always provide a long-term solution. Nutrition, its status being the primary cause of these diseases, is an overlooked resolution to remedying the metabolic crisis we face today. This research study focused on studying two food tracking methods, a control traditional method and an experimental "red-foods tracking method", and how they can impact measurable anthropometric risk factors for metabolic disease. The experimental method focuses on the tracking of only defined unhealthy foods higher in fat, sugar, and calories with little nutritional benefit. This is contrasted with traditional control tracking that includes total-caloric intake per day. The findings of this experiment showed that the experimental red foods tracking was more successful in terms of adherence to the intervention (100% vs. 58% in the control) and in loss of centimeters in the umbilicus waist circumference measurement (loss of 4.8 cm vs. loss of 2.0 cm in the control). The impact of such findings are important in that positive change can be produced as a result of food tracking. Not only can food tracking be effective when properly designed, but also can exhibit a cost effective method for improving the health status of individuals and thus reducing the financial impact of health care costs on the debt of our nation.