Clinical Application of the Food Compass Score: Positive Association to Mediterranean Diet Score, Health Star Rating System and an Early Eating Pattern in University Students

Abstract

Nutrient profiling systems (NPS) assist consumers in food choices. Several scores based on NPS have been proposed, but data on their clinical application are lacking. The food compass score (FCS) is a newly developed NPS per 100 kcal (from 1 “least healthy” to 100 “most healthy”). We examined the correlations of FCS with other indices, food groups, and meal patterns. A total of 346 students of the University of the Peloponnese (269 women and 77 men) participated. Dietary habits were evaluated with a food frequency questionnaire, and FCS, health star rating score (HSR), and MedDietScore were computed. Meal and snack frequency consumption was reported. Principal component analysis revealed three meal patterns: “early eater” (breakfast, morning snack and afternoon snack), “medium eater” (lunch and dinner), and “late eater” (bedtime snack). Pearson partial correlations between ranked variables were used to test the correlation coefficients between FCS, other scores, and meal patterns, after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, and underreporting. FCS was positively correlated to HSR (rho = 0.761, p ≤ 0.001) in a multi-adjusted analysis. In the highest tertile of MedDietScore FCS was also positively correlated to MedDietScore (rho = 0.379, p < 0.001). The FCS was positively correlated with juices, high-fat dairy, vegetables, legumes, fruits, and olive oil and negatively correlated with sodas, alcoholic drinks, red meat, refined grains, sweets, fats other than olive oil, fast foods, and coffee. In addition, it related positively to the “early eater” pattern (rho = 0.207, p < 0.001). The FCS was associated with other quality indices and better nutritional habits, such as being an early eater.

Mediterranean Diet, a Posteriori Dietary Patterns, Time-Related Meal Patterns and Adiposity: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study in University Students

“…In our study, there was no linear relationship between the Mediterranean diet and BMI in multi-adjusted linear regression, but an inverse monotonic relationship was found. It is also noted that the MedDietScore has been positively associated with other dietary quality indices in the present population, such as the Food Compass Score, as recently described [ 34 ].…”

“…During the period 20 September 2018 to 10 November 2018 a cross-sectional survey was conducted on students of the University of the Peloponnese (departments of “Nursing”, “Sports Organization and Management”, “Philology” and “History, Archaeology and Cultural Resources Management”) or the former Technical Educational Institution of Peloponnese (field of Management, Agriculture and Food Technology). We followed a “convenience sampling” procedure, as described elsewhere [ 34 ].…”

“…Weight and height were measured to the nearest 0.1 Kg and 0.1 cm, correspondingly [ 34 ], and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight (in kilograms) divided by height squared (in meters squared). Individuals were then classified as underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese [ 36 ].…”

“…A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed for the purposes of the present study, as described elsewhere [ 34 ]. Briefly, it included 156 foods/beverages and 9 frequencies to choose, from “never” to “everyday” consumption.…”

“…The conducted studies mostly assessed food groups [ 1 , 5 , 18 , 32 ], nutrients [ 31 , 32 ] or a priori adherence to the Mediterranean diet [ 18 ]. Thus, a posteriori-defined dietary patterns as well as the effect of underreporting have not been addressed in Greek students and there is only one study from our group regarding the Peloponnese area [ 34 ].…”