Adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Portuguese university students

Ferreira-Pêgo, Cíntia; Rodrigues, Joana; Costa, Adriana; Sousa, Bruno

doi:10.19277/bbr.16.1.196

Cited by 6 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In a study carried out on college students in Portugal, 59% of them showed average adherence, between 6 and 9 points presenting only 12.5% high adherence [46]. Although these results are low for a mediterranean country they are far from the results of this study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 78%

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Unhealthy Eating Behaviors of First Year Latin-American Students, An Opportunity for Sustainable Nutritional Interventions

Enríquez¹,

Santana²,

Bodden

2021

BJSTR

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The global food system, currently, fails to meet the need of the population, classifying it as being unsustainable [1,2], generating challenges in public health, environment, food safety, nutrition, and health [3]. On the other hand, mortality levels increase concerning all forms of malnutrition [4][5][6]. The most current statistics show that 2 billion adults are overweight or obese [1], while 820 million are undernourished or hungry [7]. It has been shown that the economy, culture, and social resources contribute to uneven development in health outcomes [8] such as weight gain and the development of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) [9][10][11] with repercussions on the diet of the population. The mass commercialization of processed foods and the rapid distribution into low and middleincome markets [12][13][14] has resulted in the abandonment of traditional diets and the adoption of highly processed diets, which lack in nutritional quality [15]. In terms of a healthy and sustainable diet, the Mediterranean Diet (MD) meets all established standards.It is recognized as a healthy, affordable, and environmentally sustainable eating model [16][17][18] being a Healthy and Sustainable Diet (HSD). It is widely documented that its adherence is linked to multiple health benefits in humans [19]. Recent meta-analyses have associated high adherence to MD and a reduction in general ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACTThe poor eating habits in the first year of college could trigger health problems and academic performance in students. The change of environment when moving from their home or country to the university could contribute to the adoption of those inadequate habits, where nutritional educational interventions can improve the student's habits. There was evaluate the association of eating behaviors with adherence to a healthy and sustainable diet in multinational university students, establishing a foundational framework to create interventions that promote healthy eating habits. A cross-sectional study was conducted using print questionnaires to adherence to the Mediterranean diet and eating behaviors. The participants consist of three hundred university students from sixteen countries who voluntarily completed the surveys. The only eligibility criterion was to be a first-year student. The analysis was made by a descriptive statistic, correlational, ANOVA, and regression. The mean adherence for 300 students was 7.68 (low adherence). A total of 172 first-year students showed unhealthy and very unhealthy eating behaviors (57.3%). High adherence was observed only in four countries: Ecuador (n = 2; 3.1%), Guatemala (n = 1; 2.7%), Honduras (n = 3; 2.6%), and other countries (n = 1; 9.1%). Eating behaviors were the only predictor variable. These variables accounted for 15.3% of the variance in adherence to Mediterranean diet scores. In conclusion, Interventions and regulatory standards are needed, including policies supporting the development of healthful dietary behaviors using sustainable principles.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 78%

“…According to our research, a study carried out in Colombia found that female sex was significantly higher in terms of a very low-quality diet and with a greater inclination for processed foods, unlike men [46]. The only statistically significant correlation for adherence to MD was the one estimated for eating behaviors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Unhealthy Eating Behaviors of First Year Latin-American Students, An Opportunity for Sustainable Nutritional Interventions

Enríquez¹,

Santana²,

Bodden

2021

BJSTR

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“…We found evidence of both positive and negative features in the MED populations taking part in this study. On the favorable side, and in good agreement with earlier studies also conducted in the general adult population from SP [ 15 , 16 , 28 , 30 , 37 , 42 ], PT [ 44 , 45 ], IT [ 17 ], or GR [ 19 ], our results supported a clear preference for OO against butter, with OO displaying more than 90% of subjects within the MD recommendations, and between ≈60% and 95% consuming less than one portion of butter or cream per day. Nonetheless, the target quantity for OO (≥4 tbsp/day) was reached by ≤30% of the participants.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Regarding the MED participant countries, analogous results with scores in the midrange of the scale were previously reported in SP [ 15 , 16 , 28 , 30 , 37 , 42 , 43 ], PT [ 22 , 44 , 45 ], IT [ 17 , 18 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ], GR [ 50 , 51 ], and CY [ 52 ]. Other Southern European as well as some non-European MED countries [ 23 , 27 , 53 ] have also been attributed a moderate value of MD adherence.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…In particular, differences across sexes, age groups, or BMI categories have been examined in various MED countries with inconsistent outcomes. Some studies have reported no clear differences in MD adherence between sexes in SP and IT [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 37 ], whereas other studies have indicated a higher adherence in women than in men in SP, IT, and PT [ 17 , 45 , 48 , 55 ]. Regarding age, some studies conducted in SP have reported no significant association between age and MD adherence [ 16 , 37 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Persistent Moderate-to-Weak Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Low Scoring for Plant-Based Foods across Several Southern European Countries: Are We Overlooking the Mediterranean Diet Recommendations?

et al. 2021

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The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been sponsored worldwide as a healthy and sustainable diet. Our aim was to update and compare MD adherence and food choices across several Southern European countries: Spain (SP), Portugal (PT), Italy (IT), Greece (GR), and Cyprus (CY) (MED, Mediterranean), and Bulgaria (BG) and the Republic of North Macedonia (NMK) (non-MED, non-Mediterranean). Participants (N = 3145, ≥18 y) completed a survey (MeDiWeB) with sociodemographic, anthropometric, and food questions (14-item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener, 14-MEDAS). The MED and non-MED populations showed moderate (7.08 ± 1.96) and weak (5.58 ± 1.82) MD adherence, respectively, with significant yet small differences across countries (SP > PT > GR > IT > CY > BG > NMK, p-value < 0.001). The MED participants scored higher than the non-MED ones for most of the Mediterranean-typical foods, with the greatest differences found for olive oil (OO) and white meat preference. In most countries, ≥70% of the participants reported quantities of red meat, butter, sweet drinks, and desserts below the recommended cutoff points, whereas <50% achieved the targets for plant-based foods, OO, fish, and wine. Being a woman and increasing age were associated with superior adherence (p-value < 0.001), but differences were rather small. Our results suggest that the campaigns carried out to support and reinforce the MD and to promote plant-based foods have limited success across Southern Europe, and that more hard-hitting strategies are needed.

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Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Subjective Well-Being in a Sample of Portuguese Adults

et al. 2020

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The Mediterranean diet (MD) and other lifestyle characteristics have been associated with well-being, a broad multiparameter concept that includes individual’s subjective assessment of their own well-being (SWB). Some studies have suggested that diet influences SWB, thus, this work aimed to add novel information on the association of MD and SWB in a sample of Portuguese adults. Data on sociodemographic, economic, lifestyle, diet, and SWB were collected through a self-filled online questionnaire. MD adherence was assessed by the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) score. Results showed a moderate adherence to the MD in 490 Portuguese adults (mean MEDAS of 7.4 ± 2.1). A higher MD adherence was found to be significantly positively associated with women, employed individuals, a higher number of meals per day, and those with frequent contact with nature (p-value < 0.0025, using Bonferroni adjustment). As a novelty, this study divided the participants into low SWB, medium SWB, and medium to high SWB profiles (3.9 ± 1.0; 6.2 ± 1.0; 8.2 ± 1.3, respectively; p-value < 0.05), which reported significantly increasing MEDAS scores (6.5 ± 2.1; 7.3 ± 2.1; 7.8 ± 1.9; respectively, p-value < 0.05).

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Adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Portuguese university students

Cited by 6 publications

References 36 publications

Unhealthy Eating Behaviors of First Year Latin-American Students, An Opportunity for Sustainable Nutritional Interventions

Unhealthy Eating Behaviors of First Year Latin-American Students, An Opportunity for Sustainable Nutritional Interventions

Persistent Moderate-to-Weak Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Low Scoring for Plant-Based Foods across Several Southern European Countries: Are We Overlooking the Mediterranean Diet Recommendations?

Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Subjective Well-Being in a Sample of Portuguese Adults

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