Carbohydrate counting of food An essential element in the treatment of diabetes type 1 is improved by a new tool: the Nutri-Learn buffet

摘要

Study question Assessment of the use of the Nutri-Learn buffet (NLB), a new computer-based tool for teaching of carbohydrate counting in patients with diabetes typel. What is known and what this paper adds Carbohydrate counting is a principal strategy in nutritional management of type 1 diabetes; tools to improve carbohydrate-counting ablities have not been assessed previously in controlled trials. Design Patients were randomly assigned to either the Nutri-Learn buffet (NLB) group or to the control group using conventional counselling tools. The Nutri-Learn buffet contained a large number of realistic food dummies made of plastic equipped with microchips with stored information on food content and RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology, allowing identification of the data on selected foods. The patients entered the estimated carbohydrate content of selected foodstuffs of a meal on a tray into the PC. The programme analysed the patients' performance by showing estimated and true results of the selected foods' carbohydrate content.