Mediterranean countries facing the Mediterranean Diet, are we still on track? The example of southern Spain midlife women.

Abstract

The overall intake of a cohort of middle aged women of Granada was studied along with their body composition, anthropometric and sociodemographic characteristics to evaluate if this population does really follow a Mediterranean Diet. 206 women aged 53.3 ± 5.5 years old, were evaluated for their body composition, anthropometric and sociodemographic characteristics, dietary patterns, Mediterranean diet score and bone mineral density. Results were additionally analyzed across weight status categories. 86% of the sample was overweight or obese and 14% was normal-weight (no woman was underweight). Mean body fat percentage of the sample was 40.3%. Values of bone mineral density showed a t-score average of -1.26 standard deviations. Energy intake decreased as weight status increased (p<0.05), as well as protein intake (p<0.05) but no differences were observed for carbohydrates or fat. Deviations from the Daily Recommended Intakes were observed as well as a moderate adherence (23% of the sample) to the Mediterranean Diet with no significant differences among weight status categories. Results indicated a progressive distancing from the Mediterranean dietary pattern and an unbalanced diet no correlated to the weight status group, so whether these dietary habits along with the unbalanced diet reported are prolonged over time the overweight and obese population will increase as well as the risk of developing chronic diseases, and will finally concur with the high prevalence of cardiovascular and osteoporosis risk over this population.