Abstract

DURA TRAVE, T.  and  CASTROVIEJO GANDARIAS, A.. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet in a college population. Nutr. Hosp. [online]. 2011, vol.26, n.3, pp.602-608. ISSN 1699-5198.

Objective: To determine the adherence to the Mediterranean diet of a university population and to analyze several factors that may condition its nutritional quality. Material and methods: Distribution of the Kidmed test to a random sample of 570 university students. The Kidmed index (0-12) indicated whether the adherence to the Mediterranean diet was low (0-3), intermediate (4-7) or high (8-12). The gender, age, weight, height, and body mass index were gathered from each participant, as well as the type of residence and the province of origin. Results: The sample comprised 217 men and 353 women aged 18-25 years. 9.5% of the university students had a low Kidmed index, 62.1% intermediate, and 28.4% high. Those students living at their parental home had a high percentage of adherence (35.6%), significantly higher (p < 0.05) to that of those living at a student's residence (11.1%) or at a student's apartment (11.2%). Overweighed students had a low percentage of adherence (15.5%), significantly higher (p < 0.05) to those with a normal nutritional situation (8.5%). Conclusions: 71.6% of university students need to improve their dietary pattern (low to intermediate adherence to the Mediterranean diet), and we could observe a certain family factor of preservation of the traditional dietary habits. Those university students with low adherence had a higher risk for being overweighed. It would be convenient to develop nutritional education programs in the university curricula.

Keywords : Mediterranean diet; Dietary habits; Kidmed index; University population.

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