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.
Highlights
Social support is defined as the perception that one is accepted, cared for, has assistance available from other people, and that one is part of a supportive social network
In previous research, social support has not been deemed as a consistent predictor of dietary behaviours[9,10,11], while it appeared to have a moderate effect on exercise behaviours by indirectly improving engagement, compliance and adherence to physical activity[12]
Mediterranean diet adherence was significantly associated with emotional support availability (P = 0·009) and social network support in terms of the number of close friends (P = 0·021), while there were no statistically significant differences found with regards to emotional support needs, financial support availability and religious services attendance
Summary
Social support is defined as the perception that one is accepted, cared for, has assistance available from other people, and that one is part of a supportive social network It has a complex, multi-level character that involves voluntary associations as well as formal (healthcare professionals and organisations) and informal (family members, friends and peers) relationships with others. Multi-level character that involves voluntary associations as well as formal (healthcare professionals and organisations) and informal (family members, friends and peers) relationships with others It is perceived differently on the basis of the recipient’s gender, racial or ethnic background, or cultural practices[1,2,3,4]. Perceived social support (prospective availability) and social network size usually show positive associations, while received social support (retrospective assessment of help received) is often found to relate negatively to health and health behaviours[13,14]
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