Associations between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle Assessed with the MEDLIFE Index among the Working Population

Sandra Pavičić Žeželj, Gordana Kenđel Jovanović, Nataša Dragaš Zubalj, Vladimir Mićović and Željko Sesar
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Sandra Pavičić Žeželj: Health Ecology Department, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, Braće Branchetta 20, Rijeka 51000, Croatia
Gordana Kenđel Jovanović: Department of Health Ecology, Teaching Institute of Public Health of Primorsko-goranska County, Krešimirova 52a, Rijeka 51000, Croatia
Nataša Dragaš Zubalj: Department of Health Ecology, Teaching Institute of Public Health of Primorsko-goranska County, Krešimirova 52a, Rijeka 51000, Croatia
Vladimir Mićović: Health Ecology Department, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, Braće Branchetta 20, Rijeka 51000, Croatia
Željko Sesar: Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Rijeka, Studentska ulica 2, Rijeka 51000, Croatia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: The adherence to the Mediterranean diet is beneficial for cardiovascular diseases prevention. The study aim is to use Mediterranean lifestyle (MEDLIFE) questionnaire for estimation of Mediterranean lifestyle habits among the working population and to establish MEDLIFE score correlation with the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. In the study has participated 366 workers from Croatia, which fulfilled MEDLIFE and validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) questionnaire. The multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between MEDLIFE index, workers’ obesity and cardiovascular diseases risk. The lowest adherence to Mediterranean lifestyle was associated to younger, low education, body fat above acceptable ranges and unfavorable lipid profile. Significant association to Mediterranean lifestyle was more among women ( p = 0.002), middle aged ( p = 0.02), highly physically active ( p = 0.009) and those who play collective sports >2 h/w ( p = 0.001), having body fat within acceptable range ( p = 0.003), total cholesterol less ( p = 0.03) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL-C) ( p = 0.04) more than recommended. Inverse significant association was for high educational level ( p = 0.02). The Mediterranean lifestyle adherence is associated to lower risk factors for cardiovascular diseases among studied working population. MEDLIFE index revealed that physical activity and conviviality are better ingrained among younger population but not the Mediterranean diet.

Keywords: cardiovascular diseases; lifestyle; Mediterranean diet; MEDLIFE index; workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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