Perceived facilitators and barriers to healthy dietary behaviour in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Kenya: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the facilitators and barriers to healthy dietary behaviour in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Kenya. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design using telephone interviews was applied. An interview guide was developed through a modified theoretical framework. SETTING: This study was conducted in selected hospitals in Nakuru County, located in west-central Kenya. PARTICIPANTS: A two-step sampling strategy was used to select hospitals and study participants. Adult participants aged 30 to 85 years old, with T2DM from six hospitals were selected based on their ability to openly elaborate on the theme of dietary behaviour. RESULTS: Thirty respondents were interviewed (mean age 62 years; 43.3% females). The average duration of the interviews was 32:02 minutes (SD 17.07). The highest-ranking internal facilitators of healthy dietary behaviour were knowledge of healthy food choices, gardening, self-efficacy, food preparation skills and eating at home. External facilitators included inaccurate beliefs and information on food and diet, education by healthcare workers, food availability, proximity to food selling points and family support. Internal barriers included tastes and preferences, health conditions barring intake of certain foods, and random eating of unhealthy foods. External barriers included socioeconomic factors, seasonal unavailability of fruits and food safety concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Facilitators and barriers to healthy dietary behaviour among Kenyan adults with T2DM are related to food literacy and include selection, preparation and eating. Interventions to enhance healthy dietary behaviour should target context-specific knowledge, skills and self-efficacy.