The study aims to assess the impact of a structured nutrition education programme for nutritional education and carbohydrate counting, in group sessions, on glycemic control and nutritional literacy in people with DM1. This will be achieved by evaluating the glycaemic control through A1c and daily glycaemic variability (time on target, mean glycaemia), as well as the level of knowledge before and after the intervention.
Carbohydrates are the nutrient in the diet with the greatest impact on blood glucose. Inadequate carbohydrate counts are associated with higher A1c and greater variations in postprandial blood glucose. Clinical guidelines for the nutritional treatment of diabetes recommend that patients with DM1 learn carbohydrate counting or some similar systematic strategy that allows for better metabolic control. However, despite the recommendations, this is still not a reality for most healthcare services treating individuals diagnosed with DM1.