Objective To understand the hot topics and development trends of research on diet-related issues in prediabetes population through bibliometric methods, providing ideas and references for future research directions in this field.

Methods The relevant literature on diet in the prediabetes population published in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) database from January 1990 to September 2023 in the Web of Science database was retrieved. The data of publication volume, countries/regions, institutions, authors, journals, and keywords were statistically and visually analyzed using CiteSpace software.

Results A total of 2, 083 articles were retrieved and included in the final analysis. The country with the highest number of publications was the United States (718 articles), the institution with the highest number of publications was Harvard University (209 articles), and the author with the highest number of publications was TUOMILEHTO J from the University of Helsinki (35 articles). High-frequency keywords in the research included impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, risk, diabetes, and obesity. Emerging keywords included individuals, Mediterranean diet, meta-analysis, overweight, adults, management, and impact. A total of 16 clusters were obtained through keyword clustering, including research on mechanisms, influencing factors and risk analysis, and dietary interventions.

Conclusion The research hotspots on diet in the prediabetes population focus on the related mechanisms of adipose tissue, gut microbiota, changes in Mediterranean diet research, and dietary interventions for prediabetes. Future research should continue to explore the physiological mechanisms related to diet in the prediabetes population, providing a basis for the ultimate precise and personalized dietary intervention mode and verification for prediabetes, and reducing the incidence of diabetes.