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.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic altered adults’ and children’s lifestyles and habits, causing an increase in body weight. Adolescents are sensitive to habit changes and, because of their insufficient capacity to deal with the unexpected COVID-19 changes, were at greater risk of noncommunicable disease development due to the consequences of adopting unhealthy habits. The survey aimed to reveal the changes in nutritional status and lifestyle habits of school children in Croatia and to assess their nutrition knowledge and emotional state and feelings about COVID-19 lockdown. Self-reported data from 1370 school children aged 10 to 15 years were obtained to examine the influence of the lockdown on their nutritional status, lifestyle and emotional status, and to assess their nutrition knowledge. The study revealed that the COVID-19 lockdown has caused an increase in the proportion of overweight and obesity among Croatian school children who changed their lifestyle habits towards being less physically active, spending more time using screen-based media and revealing potential psychological distress. However, the schoolchildren had a high adherence to the Mediterranean diet assessed with the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for children and adolescents KIDMED index and had good nutrition knowledge. Public health programs promoting a healthy lifestyle and involving the whole family, in a school environment, could provide children with a healthy adulthood.

Tradicionalna mediteranska prehrana povezuje se sa smanjenim rizikom od nastanka mnogih kroničnih nezaraznih bolesti. Cilj ovog rada bio je utvrditi kakvoću prehrane studenata u Rijeci, odnosno odrediti pripadnost mediteranskom načinu prehrane uz pomoć dvaju indeksa za ocjenu mediteranskog načina prehrane: Mediteranskog indeksa kvalitete prehrane i Ocjene mediteranske prehrane. Metode: Istraživanje je provedeno od siječnja do svibnja 2018. godine i obuhvatilo je 455-ero studenata s riječkog Sveučilišta, 336 žena i 119 muškaraca. Podatci o dobi, tjelesnoj aktivnosti, antropometriji, pušenju i prehrambenim navikama dobiveni su iz anketnih upitnika. Za određivanje pripadnosti mediteranskom načinu prehrane primijenjena su dva indeksa: Mediteranski indeks kvali tete prehrane i Ocjena mediteranske prehrane. Rezultati: Prosječna ocjena kakvoće prehrane studenata ocijenjena prema Mediteranskom indeksu kvalitete prehrane iznosila je 9,61, što označava srednju do nedostatnu kakvoću prehrane. Prema Ocjeni mediteranske prehrane kakvoća prehrane ocijenjena je kao nedostatna i iznosila je 3,70. Žene su imale značajno bolji Mediteranski indeks kvalitete prehrane (9,36) od muškaraca (p<0,001) i studenti koji ne puše također su imali značajno bolji Mediteranski indeks kvalitete prehrane (9,11) od pušača (p<0,001). Zaključci: Prema dobivenom Mediteranskom indeksu kvalitete prehrane i Ocjeni mediteranske prehrane možemo zaključiti da je prehrana studenata ocijenjena srednjom do nedostatnom te je vidljivo kako postoji potreba za povećanjem pridržavanja mediteranskog načina prehrane te promjenom prehrambenih navika studenata. Prema dobivenim rezultatima postoji jasna potreba za stvaranjem programa promicanja zdravlja, s posebnim naglaskom na edukaciju o prehrani i na prehrambene navike.