Nutrition Education
Importance
Nutrition education helps reduce the risk for developing diabetes and its complications.
Required Key Measure
Must be reported by grantees that select this Best Practice.
Number and percent of individuals in your Target Group who receive nutrition education.*
* Performed by a Registered Dietitian or other health or wellness program staff.
- Improvement: Increasing the number and percent of individuals in your Target Group who achieve this measure shows improvement.
- Timeframe: The timeframe for collecting data on the Required Key Measure will be January 1st to December 31st.
- Data Collection: For more information on data collection and reporting, see the SDPI Outcomes System (SOS).
Target Group Guidance
Select your Target Group from adults and/or youth with diabetes and/or at risk for developing diabetes.
You are required to report Required Key Measure data for one Target Group for your selected Best Practice. A Target Group is the largest number of patients/participants that your grant program can realistically serve. The following should be considered in selecting your Target Group:
- The size and characteristics (e.g., ages, health status, settings) of the community or patient population that you are going to draw your Target Group from
- Intensity of the activities/services you plan to do
- SDPI funding and other resources available to provide activities/services
For information and examples on selecting a Target Group, see the SDPI Diabetes Best Practice and Target Group recorded webinar.
Resources and Tools
Below are selected resources and tools specific to this Best Practice. Additional resources that may be useful for all Best Practices can be found in the SDPI Best Practice Resources.
IHS Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention
- Diabetes Standards of Care and Resources for Clinicians and Educators: Nutrition
- Education Materials and Resources (Online Catalog)
- Online Catalog
- Eagle Book Series [Produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Native Diabetes Wellness Program with support by the Indian Health Service Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevent and the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee.]
- Food Insecurity Assessment Tool and Resource List
- My Native Plate: Nutrition Tips for Educators
- Tipping the Motivational Balance for Change Recorded CME/CE Webinars
- Recorded CME/CE Webinars:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- American Indian/Alaska Native Communities Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
- Native Diabetes Wellness Program
- Native Diabetes Wellness Program Traditional Foods Project
Department of Health and Human Services
United States Department of Agriculture
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Nutrition Practice Guideline for Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Adults: Systematic Review of Evidence for Medical Nutrition Therapy Effectiveness and Recommendations for Integration into the Nutrition Care Process – 2017
American Diabetes Association
- American Diabetes Association. 5. Facilitating Positive Health Behaviors and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025 Diabetes Care 2025, Vol.48, S86-S127. doi:https://doi.org/10.2337/dc25-S005
- Nutrition Therapy for Adults with Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report – 2019 Diabetes Care 2019 May; 42(5):731-754; doi:10.2337/dci19-0014
