Sizing it up : adherence to the Mediterranean diet and anthropometric and financial measures of the MEDIS study elderly

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate adherence to the traditional Mediterranean Diet (MD) and association with BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and financial status in a sample of Mediterranean elderly without known cardiovascular disease.

Material and methods: During 2005-2011, 2813 elderly (aged 65-100 years) from 22 Mediterranean islands and the rural Mani region (Peloponnesus) voluntarily enrolled in the study. Participants' basic socio-demographic characteristics were recorded and standard procedures were used to determine anthropometric measures. Dietary habits were assessed through a semi-quantitative, validated and reproducible food-frequency questionnaire and level of adherence to the MD was determined using the MedDietScore (theoretical range 0-55). Higher values for this diet score indicate greater adherence to the MD. To measure financial status, participants were asked to report their mean income during the previous three years using a four-point scale (inadequate to cover daily expenses, trying hard to cover daily expenses, adequate to cover daily expenses, more than enough to cover daily expenses). [excerpt]