In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov2) emerged in Wuhan, China, sparking the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The high prevalence of nutrition-related COVID-19 risk factors including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension, suggests that healthy dietary approaches may mitigate COVID-19 related outcomes and possibly SARS-CoV-2 infection. Based on the fundamental role of nutrition in immune function and the well-documented association between Mediterranean diet consumption and risk reduction for chronic diseases that are comorbidities in COVID-19 patients, we hypothesized that there would be a relationship between Mediterranean diet adherence and COVID-19 cases and related deaths. In this perspective, we examined the association between regional adherence to a Mediterranean diet and COVID-19 cases and deaths using an ecological study design. We observed that Mediterranean diet adherence was negatively associated with both COVID-19 cases and related deaths across 17 regions in Spain and that the relationship remained when adjusted for factors of well-being. We also observed a negative association between Mediterranean diet adherence and COVID-19 related deaths across 23 countries when adjusted for factors of well-being and physical inactivity. The anti-inflammatory properties of the Mediterranean diet - likely due to the polyphenol content of the diet - may be a biological basis to explain our findings. However, there are confounding factors unrelated to dietary factors driving COVID-19 cases and related deaths across the regions in Spain and the 23 countries examined in our analysis. Our findings will need to be confirmed and further explored in cohort studies.
Communicating the value of Extension programming to stakeholders remains a challenge for many Extension professionals. Program evaluation is a tool that can help communicate the value of Extension; however, many evaluation methods fail to articulate a story of aggregated impact. A public value instrument was recently developed to help communicate the impact of Extension. Communicating Extension’s impact has become more critical, yet more difficult, to do during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research note shares the results of a program evaluation using the Extension public value instrument to determine the impact of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s programs during the shelter-in-place orders due to COVID-19. Respondents (n = 572) indicated high levels of self-reported knowledge gain, wellness, intent to change behavior, and perceived economic value. The results demonstrated respondents’ overall satisfaction and valuation of Family and Consumer Sciences programs during COVID-19. The Extension public value instrument enabled evaluation data collection for Extension professionals to communicate the value of their program impact despite major disruptions to traditional program formats.
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