Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Its Association with the Level of Physical Activity in Fitness Center Users: Croatian-Based Study

The Mediterranean diet (MD) is based on the traditional cuisine of south European countries, and it is considered one of the healthiest dietary patterns worldwide. The promotion of combined MD and physical activity has shown major benefits. However, the association between physical activity and the...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dinko Martinovic, Daria Tokic, Lovre Martinovic, Marko Kumric, Marino Vilovic, Doris Rusic, Josip Vrdoljak, Ivan Males, Tina Ticinovic Kurir, Slaven Lupi-Ferandin, Josko Bozic
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/d5b79cb3375647e2890373f471eec2b5
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:The Mediterranean diet (MD) is based on the traditional cuisine of south European countries, and it is considered one of the healthiest dietary patterns worldwide. The promotion of combined MD and physical activity has shown major benefits. However, the association between physical activity and the MD in regular fitness center users is still insufficiently investigated. This cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted on 1220 fitness center users in Croatia. The survey consisted of three parts: general information, the Mediterranean Diet Serving Score (MDSS) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF). The results showed that 18.6% of fitness center users were adherent to the MD, and there was a significant positive correlation between the level of physical activity and the MDSS score (r = 0.302, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Moreover, after dividing the sample into tertiles based on the IPAQ-SF score, the third tertile (MET > 3150 min/wk) had the most fitness center users (34.4%) adherent to the MD, while the first tertile (MET < 1750 min/wk) had the least (6.1%). These outcomes emphasize the importance of physical activity as they imply that, with higher levels of physical activity, people are also possibly more aware of the importance that a healthy and balanced diet has on their well-being.