The impact on eating habits of temporary translocation from a Mediterranean to a Northern European environment

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of temporary translocation from a Mediterranean to a Northern European environment on the eating habits of a group of foreign students. Design: Cross-sectional survey of eating habits before and after moving from Greece to Glasgow, Scotland. Setting: University of Glasgow. Subjects: Eighty post-graduate Greek students. Interventions: A self-administered questionnaire comprising of three major sections: (1) general eating habits; (2) frequency of eating selected food items; (3) opinion of food availability in Glasgow. Results: After moving to Glasgow, significant decreases were reported in the frequency of consuming fresh fruit, raw vegetables, fish, legumes, meat, poultry and fresh fruit juice. The frequency of eating biscuits, savoury snacks, soft=fizzy drinks, alcoholic drinks and mayonnaise, dips and sauces increased. The estimated median daily consumption of fruit and vegetables decreased from 363 g in Greece to just 124 g in Glasgow, well below the Scottish and WHO dietary target of 400 g=day. The main perceived barriers to maintaining customary eating habits were the price of food, the lack of familiar tastes, the greater availability of convenience food and the limited variety of food available in Glasgow, when compared to Greece. Conclusions: These findings highlight the difficulties that migrant populations face in retaining traditional, often healthier, eating habits when migrating to a foreign country. Barriers of high cost, limited availability and poor quality of familiar foods, need to be addressed in order for migrants to maintain their customary eating patterns. Furthermore, these barriers need to be addressed before nutritionists can expect to see the widespread adoption of the Mediterranean diet by Western populations less familiar with this eating pattern.

Demographics, health-related behaviors, eating habits and knowledge associated with vegetable intake in Japanese adults

“…We demonstrated that household size was related to VI as previously reported by (Papadaki and Scott, 2002). Men living with someone had a higher intake than those living On the other hand, subjects from city areas had a higher VI compared with those living in metropolitan or town-rural areas.…”

“…Our findings suggest that in the youngest and oldest age groups, especially for women, educational initiatives that aim to increase VI should include such strategies as increasing availability of vegetables in cafeterias and restaurants where they usually have lunch, furthermore, food price must be taken into consideration. Other authors found that subjects in their twenties reported low VI because of lack of time to cook vegetables or living alone for the first time and not having the skills to prepare vegetables dishes (Papadaki and Scott, 2002;Larson et al, 2006). We also found other unhealthy behaviors that were negatively correlated with VI in each age group.…”

“…Many research studies have been carried out in a number of countries to ascertain the determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption. The majority of the studies have focused on household income (Kirkpatrick and Tarasuk, 2003;Laaksonen et al, 2003), regional differences (Pollard et al, 2001;Papadaki and Scott, 2002) and understanding the psychosocial and sociodemographic determinants of fruit and VI. These include knowledge, perception of benefits and barriers, food preparation skills, gender and social status (Satia et al, 2002;Friel et al, 2004;Larson et al, 2006).…”

Length of Migration and Eating Habits of Portuguese University Students Living in London, United Kingdom

“…There are a fewer studies investigating the effect of temporary migration on eating habits. Studies of international students, among others, suggest that even a short term migration can result in significant and often undesirable changes in eating patterns (Kremmyda et al, 2008;Papadaki and Scott, 2002;Perez-Cueto et al, 2009;Wandel et al, 2008). The process which a minority group adopts the dietary practice of the host country is called dietary acculturation and can be multidimensional, dynamic and complex (Satia-Abouta et al, 2002).…”

Las Migraciones y la salud bucal desde una perspectiva global. Reflexiones desde la perspectiva Universitaria.

“…(19). Chesta et al (30) afirmaron que el crecimiento físico es un "espejo" de las condiciones sociales de la población y sugiere que los programas de intervención deberían incluir también a poblaciones en riesgo social.…”