Exploring Diet Quality in CF

Enablers and barriers to eating a healthy diet in CF

Dr Audrey Tierney, a Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Limerick was awarded a grant by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Health Research Charities of Ireland (HRCI) with Cystic Fibrosis Ireland for a project called ‘Exploring diet quality in Cystic Fibrosis – enablers and barriers to eating a healthy diet in CF’.

Audrey and the team at University of Limerick are aiming to explore more about the diets that people with CF living in Ireland consume on a day-to-day basis, look at the overall quality of the diets and investigate the impact that the diet has on CF and on quality of life.

We know that a diet high in energy and fat has typically been advised to people with CF to reach weight or body mass index (BMI) goals because of the relationship between BMI and lung function. Often times these diets tend to be higher in saturated fat, sugar and salt and lack essential nutrients. Whilst studies in this area have documented nutrient intakes (e.g. energy, fat, carbohydrates, protein), there is a lack of data on overall diet quality, especially in adults with CF (i.e. meeting food groups, getting sufficient vitamin intakes etc). In addition, no study has addressed the drivers and barriers to eating a healthy diet for people with CF.

Any person with CF (older than 18 years) can participate in the study

What will the study involve:

• Completing a food diary and some questionnaires (can be completed online or paper-based, whatever suits best)

• Online focus groups will be run to talk about what influences people with CF with their eating habits or their diets and food practices. This is an optional component of the study.

This baseline information will then inform future interventions to assess the effects of a ‘healthier’ type diet in CF (for example, a Mediterranean-type diet) on some measures like BMI, lung function, inflammatory markers and quality of life to assess if energy and nutrient requirements can be met in a way that the quality of the diet is also achieved.

If you wish to get involved, or would like more information, please contact Audrey:

Email: audrey.tierney@ul.ie

Phone / Text: 086 865 2977

Details of the study are also available on the CFI website