Adherence to the Mediterranean diet among Italian adults: results from the web-based Medi-Lite questionnaire

The adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) was assessed in a sample of 1820 non-selected individuals (1099 females and 721 males aged >= 18 years) who have completed the web version of the Medi-Lite score during the year 2019. Adherence to the MD was found to have a normal distribution and, on a scale from 0 to 18, the mean score was 12.2 +/- 2.4. Significantly (p < 0.001) higher adherence scores were observed in females compared to males, in elderly people compared to young people, and in individuals with a university degree compared to those with a primary or a secondary school diploma. At the multivariate analysis, female gender, advanced age (>45 years), and higher education level were associated with a higher probability of being in the highest quartile of the Medi-Lite distribution. In conclusion, we found that some sub-groups of our population (males, younger individuals, and those with lower levels of education) need to improve their diet for reaching higher adherence scores to the MD.

Automated summary

The study showed that females, older individuals, and those with higher education levels were more likely to have higher adherence scores to the Mediterranean diet. However, males, younger individuals, and those with lower education levels need to improve their diet for better adherence to the MD.