Core foods using food records and change over time in a type 2 diabetes sample

The objective of the current study was to determine the core foods of low-income, African American subjects with type 2 diabetes who were participating in a lifestyle intervention and to determine whether change in core foods occurred between the first and last two weeks of the intervention. Data were used from a randomized controlled trial, the Lifestyle Improvement through Food and Exercise (LIFE) study. Subjects were low-income African Americans with type 2 diabetes attending safety-net clinics in Chicago. Subjects underwent a six-month diabetes self-management intervention. Nutrient intake was assessed at baseline and six months using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Core foods were generated from food logs kept by subjects in the first and last two weeks of the study. The primary outcome of the randomized control trial was A1c. Foods were classified into core, secondary, or peripheral foods between subjects' first and last two weeks. Of the core foods at baseline, 14% changed to secondary or peripheral. Fifty percent of the secondary foods changed to core or peripheral, including peanut butter, which moved from secondary to core and sugar-sweetened beverages which moved to peripheral foods. A greater proportion of foods changed to either core or peripheral from secondary. Generating core foods of a specific population may guide development of interventions tailored to that population. Educators may wish to target foods that are secondary at baseline for change.