Dietary Knowledge and Perceptions in UK Pakistani/Bangladeshi Communities: A Survey on Low-Carbohydrate and Intermittent Fasting diets for Diabetes Prevention and Management.

Objective: To assess knowledge and perceptions of low-carbohydrate and intermittent fasting diets among UK-based Pakistani and Bangladeshi individuals for T2D prevention and management.

Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Setting: The survey was administered online using Jisc Online Surveys.

Participants: Pakistani and Bangladeshi adults aged 18 and over who had lived in the UK for at least one year.

Results: A total of 304 participants took part in the survey, of which 77% (N=234) were females and 80.3% (n=244) were Pakistanis. Intermittent fasting diets appeared to be somewhat more acceptable (N=107, 36%) than low-carbohydrate diets (N=68, 22.8%) particularly. Participants showed generally good dietary knowledge of carbohydrates and T2D, although some gaps were identified. Key barriers to dietary change included reluctance to alter established eating habits as well as low motivation. Age, education and living arrangements were significant predictors of dietary knowledge and dietary preferences.

Conclusions: These findings support carrying out future research to test culturally tailored interventions, with particular attention to intermittent fasting approaches. Multidisciplinary interventions that involve family members, offer flexible meal timing and present dietary guidance within familiar cultural contexts may improve acceptability and adherence and lead to long term sustained benefits.