Social support, adherence to Mediterranean diet and physical activity in adults: results from a community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

There is a growing recognition that social support can potentially exert consistent or opposing effects in influencing health behaviours. The present paper presents a cross-sectional study, including 2,064 adults from Italy, Spain and Greece, who were participants in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (C4H study), aiming to examine whether social support is correlated with adherence to a healthy Mediterranean diet and physical activity. Social support data were available for 1,572 participants. The majority of the sample reported emotional support availability (84·5 %), financial support availability (72·6 %) and having one or more close friends (78·2 %). Mediterranean diet adherence was significantly associated with emotional support (P = 0·009) and social network support (P = 0·021). No statistically significant associations were found between participant physical activity and the social support aspects studied. In conclusion, emotional and social network support may be associated with increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet. However, further research is needed to evaluate the role of social support in adherence to healthy Mediterranean diet.

Facilitators and barriers to the implementation of dietary nutrition interventions for community-dwelling older adults with physical frailty and sarcopenia: A qualitative meta-synthesis

“…Consistent with previous research [ 53 , 54 ], most interviews discussed the importance of community support. Community support encompasses different levels of family, community, and government with manifest and potential support.…”

The immune‐supportive diet in allergy management: A narrative review and proposal

“…• Raw and cooked vegetables; fresh fruits Provide ample nutrients, food microbes (see below), dietary fiber, and polyphenols (see below) for the microbiome (see above); Reduces inflammation 44,48,71 ; Improves health outcomes and reduces overall mortality [55][56][57] ; Dietary patterns with ample plant-based foods/fruits/vegetables protect against chronic disease, 58-61,70,138 food allergy, 125 asthma, 7,19,[132][133][134][135][136]139 and allergic rhinitis. 129,[141][142][143] • Whole grains (e.g., wheat, spelt, rye, barley, rice, corn, quinoa, buckwheat); • Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and other starchy roots.…”

“…In contrast to the Western dietary pattern, traditional diets consist of seasonal and local foods, prepared at home, and consumed by the family, with culinary methods, transferred from generation to generation. 27 Such diets are sustainable and increase social contact, which also have beneficial effects on health [55][56][57] (Table 3). Each country has its own guidance on healthy eating reflecting country-specific traditional diets, local availability, and recommendations on the intake of macro-and micronutrients to support health.…”

Perceived stress negatively affects diet quality and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 lockdown period, in Greece

“…More specifically, eight out of ten participants reported moderate and high adherence to the MD and the mean (SD) MEDAS score of the participants was estimated at 7.31 (2.03). Other studies in Europe and in particular on the Mediterranean region have reported a slight improvement of the diet quality during the pandemic, as indicated by the MEDAS score and other measures of diet quality (Laiou et al , 2020). Women reported higher levels of MD adherence in comparison to men, which is in accordance to other studies conducted in the past (Theodoridis et al , 2018).…”