A comparative study of lifestyles, diets, and Body Mass Index of members of the Vegetarian Society of Malta.

Abstract

Adopting a vegetarian lifestyle seems to be a growing trend here in Malta, when only a handful of people were members of the Vegetarian Society when it was first set up in 1992, now boasts around two hundred members. The numbers have grown with the increase in awareness, via literature and media of the concept of vegetarianism and different methods available for food preparation that does not require animal products, followed by the vast range of meat alternatives that are now available on the market. (The Vegetarian Society of Malta, 2005-2010) This lifestyle has also grown as people are becoming more aware of animal cruelty and environmental issues and the overall choice of living a healthier life. Studies by Miruzzi {2000) have found that more than 50% of the younger generation in Malta, those between the age of 16 and 25 of age, who follow a vegetarian lifestyle do so primarily because of animal rights and the environmental issue. Furthermore, Pribis et al. {2010) conducted a study that focused on the beliefs and attitudes of vegetarians across the generation and they found that the younger generation, those aged 11-20 years chose the vegetarian lifestyle because of ethical (against killing animals) and environmental issues, whilst the older generation aged 41 -60 years followed a vegetarian lifestyle for health reasons. The results obtained in this study did not reflect what was found in other studies carried out in California (Adventist cohort} and the European cohort, where they found that the mean difference in body mass index between the vegetarian and non-vegetarian populations differed by about 1 kg/m2 (Key & Appleby, 2001}, but the difference in this study was found to be higher (4 Kg/m2}. Locally the vegetarian population who took part in the study were found to have an overall higher BMI (24.14 Kg/m2} as compared to other studies conducted in the US (24.3 Kg/m2} and Europe (21.65Kg/m2} (Key, et al., 1999}.