A Statistical Extraction of Dietary and Nutritional Risk Factors among Diabetic Patients using Factor Analysis

ABSTRACTDiabetes mellitus remains a significant non-communicable disease affecting urbanpopulations in India. This study aims to identify key patterns in food consumption amongdiabetes patients using statistical techniques. Data were collected from 500 randomly selecteddiabetes patients (270 males and 230 females) attending government and some private clinicsin Kalaburagi city over a four-month period. Factor analysis approach was employed toexplore the underlying structure of food intake behaviours and to group correlated variablesinto major dietary/nutrition patterns. The analysis revealed several distinct dietary/nutritionpatterns commonly followed by patients, which provide useful insights for nutritionalplanning, diabetes education, and policy formulation. The findings can support thedevelopment of tailored dietary guidelines to improve diabetes management at the local level.