Self-management and compliance with diet and exercise by diabetic patients is critical for the prevention of complications associated with diabetes mellitus. A diabetic education program may facilitate patient understanding of self-management behaviors needed to manage diabetes. The purpose of this study is to examine the difference in two groups of diabetic patients' compliance with diet and exercise following an education program on self-management of diabetes and patient compliance with diet at 1 month and 6 months. Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory is the theoretical framework. Participants will include 40 diabetic patients attending a diabetic clinic. Diabetic patients will be contacted by a written letter, informed of the research study and invited to participate. Self-management will be measured by Exercise of Self-care Agency Scale (Kearney & Fleischer, 1979; Riesch & Hauch, 1986). This study is significant because it will provide information for healthcare providers to support diabetic education programs on self-management behaviors.