[Do we really follow the Mediterranean diet?].
OBJECTIVE
To discover people's nutritional habits and their distance from the Mediterranean diet.


METHODS
Cross-sectional, descriptive study.


METHODS
Gavà 2 Health District, Barcelona, Spain.


METHODS
614 obtained at random from patients attending the centre. Stratified in 3 age groups (15-35, 36-64, and over 64).


METHODS
Validated questionnaire of the consumption by groups of food over the previous week. Then figures were compared with the standard values of the Mediterranean diet.


RESULTS
Outstanding results were: 60% insufficiency in consumption of carbohydrates; 70.7% insufficiency in green vegetables, fruit and root vegetables; 75% of optimum consumption of pulses; 64% deficient consumption of milk products; 66% optimum consumption of fish; 73.8% optimum consumption of eggs; 71.2% proper intake of white meat; 64.2% excessive consumption of red meat and processed meats, which reached 86.6% among 15-35 year olds. There was a BMI over 25 in 59% of women and 63% of men, with obesity being most common among women and people over 64 years old.


CONCLUSIONS
The population studied consumed an excessive amount of food with high contents of saturated fat, especially young people. There is a deficit in the intake of slowly absorbed carbohydrates and a less than ideal consumption of fruit, green vegetables and root vegetables, which was more marked among the young. The consumption of milk products was below the recommended amount. Pulses, fish and white meat were close to the right levels. This pattern is far from ideal and leads to higher risk of prevalent chronic illnesses.
Fernández-Vergel
R
R
ABS Gavà II, Institut Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.
Peñarrubia-María
M T
MT
Rispau-Falgàs
A
A
Espín-Martínez
A
A
Gonzalo-Miguel
L
L
Pavón-Rodríguez
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires