EVALUATION OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND ADHERENCE TO A HEALTHY DIET AMONG THE ROMANIAN POPULATION

With a cross-sectional observational study based on a questionnaire, the adherence of the Romanian population to a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle was evaluated, as well as nutritional imbalances in correlation with the health status of the respondents. A total number of 2352 valid answers was registered from 66.7% female respondents and 33.3% male respondents. Regarding the respondents' adherence to a healthy diet correlated with a balanced lifestyle, it was found that only 4.3% of the respondents adopt a balanced diet. Most of the respondents who belong to the group of those with a healthy diet are people between 40 and 50 years old and female (63% of the people are women). Moreover, most of the male respondents are overweight (43.7%). The majority of respondents from all BMI groups declared that they used to eat 1 -2 meals/day in a chaotic manner. Approximately 50% of the people in the unhealthy diet group are represented by young people up to 30 years old, while approximately 45% of the people in the healthy diet group are middle-aged people, up to 50 years old. Identifying unhealthy eating habits such as low consumption of vegetables and fruits, low consumption of fish and seafood, insufficient hydration, as well as life-style problems such as the tendency to be sedentary, spending a long time in front of the tablet, computer or the telephone, the chaotic schedule of meals, the lack of a periodic evaluation of the state of health, in a large percentage of the respondents, raises an alarm and also imposes the need for corrective measures the involvement of the authorities.

Automated summary

This cross-sectional observational study based on a questionnaire evaluated the adherence of the Romanian population to a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, as well as the correlation between nutritional imbalances and the respondents' health status. Only a small percentage of the respondents (4.3%) followed a balanced diet, with the majority being middle-aged women. Overweight was prevalent among male respondents (43.7%). Unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle issues were found among a significant proportion of the respondents.