Browsing by Author "Levitt, Naomi S."

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    Dietary intake and beliefs of pregnant women with gestational diabetes in Cape Town, South Africa
    (MDPI, 2018) Krige, Stephanie M.; Booley, Sharmilah; Levitt, Naomi S.; Chivese, Tawanda; Murphy, Katherine; Harbron, Janetta
    This study investigated the dietary intake of pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their beliefs relating to the consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V) and sugary foods and drinks. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 239 pregnant women with GDM in Cape Town. Dietary intake was assessed using a quantified Food Frequency Questionnaire and beliefs relating to food choices were assessed using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The mean energy intake was 7268 KJ, carbohydrate was 220 (±104.5) g, protein 60.3 (±27.5) g and fat 67.7 (±44.2) g. The macronutrient distribution was 55% carbohydrates, 14.5% protein and 30.5% fat of total energy. The majority of the sample had inadequate intakes of vitamin D (87.4%), folate (96.5%) and iron (91.3%). The median (IQR) amount of added table sugar and sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) was 4.0 (0.00–12.5) g and 17.9 (0.0–132.8) mL per day, respectively. Only 31.4% met the recommendation (400 g per day) for F&V. Beliefs that it was not easy to exclude sugary foods/drinks and that knowing how to control cravings for sugary foods/drinks are areas to target messages on the sugar content of SSBs. In conclusion, the dietary intake of these women was not optimal and fell short of several nutritional guidelines for pregnant women with hyperglycaemia. The strongly held beliefs regarding sugary foods/drinks may contribute to poor adherence to nutritional guidelines among pregnant women with GDM in South Africa.
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    The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus among older people in Africa : a systematic review study protocol
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2014-05) Werfalli, Mahmoud; Musekiwa, Alfred; Engel, Mark E.; Ross, Ian; Kengne, Andre P.; Levitt, Naomi S.
    Introduction: The number of people with diabetes in Africa is projected to increase substantially in the next two decades, due to factors including rapid urbanisation, adoption of unhealthy diets and exercise patterns and the ageing of the population. There are currently uncertainties regarding the incidence, prevalence and management patterns of diabetes in older people across the diversity of African countries. We wish to perform a systematic review to determine the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Africa in the older individual, over the age of 55 years, reported in studies from 2000 to 2013. Methods: and analyses A comprehensive literature search among a number of databases will be undertaken, using an African search filter to identify diabetes prevalence studies that were published from 2000 to 2013. Full copies of articles identified by the search, and considered to meet the inclusion criteria, will be obtained for data extraction and synthesis. Statistical analysis of the primary measures, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and oral glucose tolerance test will include two steps: (1) identification of data sources and documenting estimates and (2) application of the random-effects meta-analysis model to aggregate prevalence estimates and account for between study variability in calculating the overall pooled estimates and 95% CI for diabetes prevalence. Heterogeneity will be evaluated using the I2 statistic to determine the extent of variation in effect estimates that is due to heterogeneity rather than chance. This systematic review will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Ethics and dissemination: Ethics is not required for this study, given that this is a protocol for a systematic review, which utilises published data. The findings of this study will be widely disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.