Medical school fails to improve Mediterranean diet adherence among medical students

Abstract

Background: The Mediterranean Diet ( MeDi) is associated with a reduced risk of several non- communicable chronic diseases. High levels of nutrition knowledge are associated with greater MeDi adherence irrespective of education and other socio- economic factors. The present study investigates whether attending medical school changes students' adherence to the MeDi. Methods: A cross- sectional study was conducted in NovemberDecember 2014 using the 16- item KIDMED questionnaire, which inquiries into eating habits. Each respondent's KIDMED index ( range 0- 12), whose scores reflect `poor', ` average' or ` good' MeDi adherence, was calculated. Scores were analyzed for gender, age and early/ late medical school year. The Mann- Whitney U- test and the chisquare test were used for group comparisons. Ordinal logistic regression was applied to estimate the odds ratio ( OR) and 95% confidence interval ( CI) for changes in MeDi adherence from early to late medical school after adjustment for potential confounders. Results: Participants were 1038 medical students ( 573 females) aged 18- 34 years ( mean 21.9 +/- 2.4). There were 20.8% ` poor', 56.5% ` average' and 22.7% ` good' scores. Gender significantly affected scores ( P < 0.01). In the ordinal logistic regression model the odds for greater MeDi adherence increased for the female gender ( P < 0.05); females were 48% more likely to have a ` good' KIDMED score than their male peers, whereas early/ late medical school year did not affect results [ adjusted odds ratio ( OR) = 0.95; P = 0.15]. Conclusions: More than 70% of our medical students know very little about healthy eating and the MeDi. However, this knowledge is essential in their future profession both to support therapeutic decision- making and effective preventive actions.