Food and nutrition, alongside medication and activity, is the cornerstone to diabetes management. Although the food a care home provides is important in helping to manage diabetes, residents with diabetes should be able to continue to enjoy a wide variety of foods. 

Eating a balanced diet, managing weight (both over and underweight), and following a healthy lifestyle, together with taking any prescribed medication and monitoring where appropriate, will benefit health enormously.

Remember, in the long run it is better to make small changes that the person with diabetes feels able to stick to, rather than completely altering the diet and the person with diabetes not sticking to it. 

In some cases dietary recommendations for the older person with diabetes can differ to the general recommendations for people with diabetes. Older people in care homes may be more likely to be underweight rather than overweight, and prevalence of malnutrition and undernutrition is high.  It may therefore not be appropriate to reduce the fat, sugar and salt in the diet for every older person with diabetes. 

The American Diabetes Association recommendations state: "the imposition of dietary restrictions on eldery patients with diabetes in long-term care facilities is not warranted."  And "there is no evidence to support prescribing diets such as ‘no sweets’ or ‘no sugar added."

Reviewed March 2010
Next review September 2011