Volume 27, Issue 142, December 2023

Association between type 2 diabetes and dietary patterns in Middle Eastern and North African populations (MENA): A systematic review

Almutairi Fahad M^1♦, Goyder Elizabeth C², Caton Samantha J²

¹Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

^♦Corresponding author
Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Examining diet from the perspective of combinations of food items and food groups rather than focusing on a single food item or a food group is defined as dietary patterns. Many studies have begun studying nutritional patterns and their associations to different chronic diseases, including type-two diabetes (T2D), a condition commonly found among the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) populations. Materials and Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched for studies that examined the associations between dietary patterns and having a diagnosis of T2D or with T2D laboratory parameters such as blood glucose or HbA1c levels. Data were extracted by summarising the features and outcomes of the included studies and, further, groups commonly identified similar dietary patterns together. Results: Overall, in the countries of the MENA region, 12 studies were identified. Among the commonly identified dietary patterns, three main groups are traditional, healthy, and fast food/Western. While evidence suggests a decreased association between healthy and traditional nutritional patterns and T2D, there was an increased association between fast food/Western nutritional patterns and T2D. Conclusion: The results of this systematic review suggest a relationship between dietary patterns and the risk of developing T2D. Such evidence could guide future research that can potentially inform the development of future evidence-based nutritional guidelines for better management and prevention of diabetes among MENA populations.

Keywords: Diet, Dietary Patterns, Type 2 diabetes, MENA

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e390ms3272

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v27i142.e390ms3272

Published: 18 December 2023