Group therapeutic education versus individual education of type 2 diabetics: what impact on dietary practices?

The degree of follow-up of lifestyle rules by diabetics is insufficient. This is the result of different factors :- On the one hand, the place of food and culinary pleasure is central among our patients; for many of them, it is one of the rare joyful moments in everyday life. However, the classic dietary prescriptions are in principle restrictive, and deprive diabetics of a certain number of these pleasures.- On the other hand, food is an important element of social sharing, both on a daily basis and at particular events. Restricting food consumption, especially that associated with our holidays, contributes to isolating the diabetic and marginalizing him.- Likewise, food has the characteristic of being varied; we often get tired of the same meals. However, the classic dietary prescription often offers only a small variety of culinary choices.Group therapeutic education, within the framework of a structured program, is a concept that has been studied and practiced for a long time. It offers a different approach to individual education, and it can offer solutions to the barriers to following dietary rules, thus, improving dietary compliance.We propose to evaluate the impact of a group therapeutic education on the dietary practices of type 2 diabetics.