Development of a tool to estimate sugar and caloric contents in alcoholic beverages for a diabetes self-management program in Thailand

Diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) is recommended as a standard of care for patients with diabetes worldwide. Alcohol consumption is one aspect mentioned within the DSMES program in Thailand where alcohol consumption is the highest among Southeast Asian countries. Many diabetes guidelines suggest limiting alcohol intake to not more than one standard drink per day for adult women and two for adult men if they cannot abstain from drinking. In practice, however, the conversion of alcohol consumption into standard drinks, and nutritional information about the calorie and sugar contents of alcoholic beverages, especially domestically produced spirits, are not commonly available in Thailand. By reviewing the diabetes guidelines internationally and the Thailand alcoholic beverage industry, a visual health education tool to help convert different alcoholic beverages into standard drinks and to provide the calorie and sugar content of alcoholic beverages was developed as a part of the DSMES program. It was finalized following pilot testing and focus group discussions with policymakers, healthcare providers, and type 2 diabetes patients. The personalized counseling tool, integrated with guidelines and culturally tailored to the Thai setting is distributed to counselors/educators. It is a potentially useful tool for patients to make informed choices for their self-management of diabetes.