Effects of Nutrition Education on Dietary Quality and Prediabetes-Related Metabolic Parameters in Female University Students

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of nutrition education on the Healthy Eating Index-2020 (HEI-2020), Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI), Dietary Carbohydrate Quality Index (CQI), Low-Carbohydrate Diet Score (LCDS), Glycemic Index (GI), and Glycemic Load (GL). Additionally, it assessed its impact on fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin levels, Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA-IR), and Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI), which are biomarkers associated with prediabetes. The case-control study was conducted with female university students in the case (n = 39) and control (n = 37) groups who received nutrition education; dietary components were calculated over 24-hour dietary recall. Findings revealed that HEI-2020 scores were significantly higher (p = 0.006); insulin (p = 0.035), glucose (p = 0.023) and HOMA-IR (p = 0.026) levels were lower, and QUICKI values were higher (p = 0.025) in the case group. In adjusted models, higher tertiles of PHDI (T2-AOR = 12.039; 95%CI: 2.266-63.866), HEI-2020 (T2-AOR = 0.002; 95%CI: 0-0.462 and T3-AOR = 0.010; 95%CI: 0-0.457), and CQI (T2-AOR = 64.713; 95%CI: 4.585-91.775) were associated with lower odds of insulin resistance. Furthermore, a positive association was observed between dietary GI and the odds of insulin resistance (T2-AOR = 7.286; 95%CI: 2.349-52.6054). It was determined that nutrition education improved dietary quality and had positive effects on prediabetes-related metabolic parameters.