title: A breaking down of the Mediterranean diet in the land where it was discovered. A cross sectional survey among the young generation of adolescents in the heart of Cilento, Southern Italy.
abstract: To investigate dietary habits among young people in the Mediterranean lands, exactly where the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet (MD) were discovered by Ancel Keys.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional study design.
  
  
  
  A 10-items food-frequency questionnaire was administered to 1117 students in the schools of the Cilento area. Adherence to the MD was appraised according to a scale of 0-10. A logistic regression model was used to identify possible factors associated with "Following an unhealthy diet". Results were expressed as Odds Ratio with 95% confidence interval and the level of significance was set at p<0.05.
  
  
  
  A percentage of 63.8 reached a score under six, indicating that the majority of the students did not respect the rules of the Mediterranean diet and only 36.2% (n. 371) exceeded a score of 6 adhering to it in varying degrees. At the logistic regression analysis smokers resulted to be affected by almost a double risk of getting away from the Mediterranean dietary pattern (OR = 1.93; CI 95% 1.44-2.57); on the contrary, those with a higher PCS12 (Physical Component Summary score) were in a lower risk to move away from the MD style (OR = 0.98; 95% CI = 0.96-0.99).
  
  
  
  Despite its increasing popularity worldwide, adherence to the MD model is decreasing. The new generation of young people does not adhere to the MD pattern although they live in the lands characterized by the tradition and culture of healthy diet and where the benefits from this pattern were initially discovered. Interventions and specific education about the healthy diet may be useful to recover student's dietary patterns as in the old eating tradition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saulle
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Del Prete
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Germany - Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Metabolic Disorders, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stelmach-Mardas
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Giusti
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: La Torre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adolescents; Dietary habits; Italy; Mediterranean diet; Students; Survey