Background: prediabetes prevention and management are the main methods used to combat the prevalence of diabetes. Exploratory factor analysis is an upcoming method that is successful in identifying dietary patterns that correlate with healthy or unhealthy outcomes.
Aim: this study aims to identify dietary patterns in Taiwan that are associated with the risk of prediabetes.
Methods: anthropometric, blood glucose, 3 d/24 h dietary records, and food frequency questionnaire data were collected from subjects recruited at Taipei Tzu-Chi Hospital. The following five dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis: Western, prudent, convenience, Asian traditional, and continental. This cross-sectional study compares tertiles of dietary patterns and analyzes the significance of the characteristics.
Results: the Western and the prudent patterns are the major dietary patterns found in other studies. A higher factor loading in the Western pattern is significantly related to a higher risk of prediabetes. A higher factor loading in the continental pattern is significantly related to a lower risk of prediabetes.
Conclusion: decreasing meat and seafood consumption while increasing egg, coffee, and milk consumption may be associated with a decreased risk for prediabetes.
Keywords: Taiwan; cross-sectional study; dietary pattern; factor analysis; fasting glucose; glycated hemoglobin; prediabetes.