Mediterranean Diet and physical activity in Romanian and Spanish university students - a comparative study

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of this research was to show if there are differences between the Mediterranean diet and physical activity in students from Romania and Spain. Material: The study was carried out on a sample of 567 participants, 149 of which (24.69%) are from Romania (Transilvania University of Braşov) and 427 (75.31%) are students from Spain (University of Granada ). To evaluate adherence to the Mediterranean diet we used The Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED), and for the assessment of the level of physical activity, we used the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A). The reliability of the KIDMED was good (Cronbach’s α = 0.83) and for PAQ-A is 0.874. Statistical analyses were done through program IBM SPSS Statistics 22. The statistical indicators used in this study, were the following: standard deviation (SD), arithmetic average (X), chi-square test, Student’s T-test (t), percent%, Levene’s test, ANOVA One-Way. Results: The results of the variance analysis showed that there is no statistically significant relationship between the adherence to the Mediterranean diet and physical activity in Romanian students (F=0.517; p=0.598), or in Spanish students (F=0.255; p=0.775). Also, the results regarding adherence to the MD and PA was: poor adherence , n=31, (mean=29.06; standard deviation=3.723), average adherence , n=275, (mean=28.62; standard deviation=3.386), and high adherence, n=261 (mean=28.50; standard deviation=3.779). Conclusions: This study highlighted the fact that there are no significant differences regarding the adherence to the Mediterranean diet and the level of physical activity between the two countries (Romania and Spain). Unlike Spanish students, we found that Romanian students have a poor adherence to the MD.

Promotion of Healthy Habits in University Students: Literature Review

“…Summary of the documents included in the review, highlighting information on authorship, year, journal, and country of publication, as well as the main objectives, the intervention carried out, the results of interest, the research design, the researchers, quality and main prevention guidelines extracted by the study variables. [8].…”

“…In this sense, Atencio-Osorio et al (2020) [7] evaluated the psychometric properties of the KID-MED questionnaire in Colombian university students, demonstrating its reliability and validity. On the other hand, Badicu et al (2018) [8] conducted a study in students from Romania and Spain using the KIDMED questionnaire and the PAQ-A, determining that students from both sites have low adherence to the Mediterranean diet and low performance in physical activity.…”

“…Interventions in this area focus on promoting a healthy diet together with the daily practice of physical activity. Finally, this highlights the link between poor diet and higher levels of stress [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Again, stress prevention is associated with a correct adherence to the Mediterranean diet, increasing this prevention with the help of physical activity.…”

“…Eating habits during the university period undergo significant variations, decreasing the quality of the diet [6]. To assess the nutritional status of students, the KIDMED test was used, which measures the quality index of adherence to the Mediterranean diet [7][8][9][10], this being the dietary pattern to be implemented in students, since poor diet predisposes them to situations of obesity and the possible onset of diseases in adulthood [11,12].…”

Exploring the Correlation between Time Management, the Mediterranean Diet, and Physical Activity: A Comparative Study between Spanish and Romanian University Students

“…One reason for this is due to the geographical location of Romania, which is a non-coastal country and is further north than Spain [ 25 ]. This could have limited the cultivation of the food of the Mediterranean basin in Romania [ 36 ]. Moreover, the climatic conditions in Spain favor the consumption of fish, milk, and cereals, which could have helped Spanish students to adhere to the MD.…”