Health Education and Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder caused by the body's inability to process glucose. Type 1 diabetes can develop at any age, although the condition occurs most frequently in children and young adults. While type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is more common in adults and the elderly, its incidence is increasing in children and adolescents, as childhood overweight and obesity become more common. Unfortunately, population-based studies in this area are scarce.

The self-care of T2DM is related to developing specific skills and incorporating tools necessary to achieve the goals established at each stage of T2DM treatment. In this context, diabetes education is the main instrument to guarantee self-care, including for children and adolescents. Diabetes education can be carried out through individual or group educational activities with the assistance of multidisciplinary teams.

Given the importance of the food plan in diabetes management and the prevention of its complications, nutrition is fundamental in this process since some foods have been identified as protective and others as increasing risk for T2DM.

Thus, this Research Topic aims to publish original articles, reviews, clinical trials, intervention studies, and case studies on food and diabetes education for children, adolescents, and adults with diabetes or who are at risk of developing T2DM. Manuscripts should show improvement in self-care, behavior change, health promotion, and prevention of both acute and chronic diabetes complications. In addition, articles may include methodological studies that include the creation, cultural adaptation, and validation of educational technologies aimed at nutritional interventions for this target public.

Keywords: Diabetes education, Type 2 diabetes, Children, Adolescents, Adults, Elderly

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.