Mediterranean Diet Success Looks Different For Women And Men, Study Of 4,000 Adults Reveals

Why women ace Mediterranean eating but struggle pinch sleep, while men triumph astatine activity, and really some tin leverage these gender-specific strengths for optimal health

Study: Gender-specific insights into adherence to Mediterranean fare and lifestyle: study of 4,000 responses from nan MEDIET4ALL project. Image Credit: Sunvic / Shutterstock

In a caller study published successful nan diary Frontiers successful Nutrition, an world squad of researchers assessed adherence to nan Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) and related manner behaviors utilizing nan Mediterranean manner (MedLife) Index, and examined gender-specific associations pinch beingness activity, sleep, intelligence health, societal participation, and perceived barriers.

Background

Millions of adults struggle to eat good contempt knowing fare shapes heart, brain, and metabolic health. Classic MedDiet patterns for illustration olive oil, vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, and full grains little risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 glucosuria mellitus, and immoderate cancers while supporting longevity. Yet globalization, ultra-processed foods, and tighter budgets are eroding these habits, particularly among younger generations successful Mediterranean regions.

Lifestyle matters too, arsenic sleep, beingness activity, stress, and exertion usage tin reenforce aliases undermine regular dietary choices. Understanding who adheres to MedDiet patterns and why helps tailor programs for campuses, clinics, and workplaces, though findings correspond associations alternatively than causations.

About nan Study

The squad conducted an international, cross-sectional online study successful summertime 2024 wrong nan European Union (EU) Partnership for Research and Innovation successful nan Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) program. After screening >8,000 first responses for completeness, duplicates, and implausible values, 4,010 adults from 10 Mediterranean and neighboring countries (including some Mediterranean [MC] and non-Mediterranean [NMC] regions) were yet included.

Adherence was measured pinch nan 28-item MedLife Index covering nutrient consumption, dietary habits, and behaviors. Measures included nan International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) to deduce play Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) minutes; nan Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) for sleep; nan Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) for intelligence health; nan Short Life Satisfaction Questionnaire-Lockdown (SLSQ) and nan Short Social Participation Questionnaire-Lockdowns (SSPQL) for well-being and societal ties; and nan Short Technology-Use Questionnaire-Lockdowns (STuQL) for instrumentality use.

Perceived barriers were captured pinch nan MedDiet Barriers Questionnaire (MBQ). Demographics (including Body Mass Index [BMI]) were recorded. All information were self-reported, introducing imaginable callback and societal desirability biases. The cross-sectional creation limits causal mentation of observed relationships.

Data postulation complied pinch nan General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and nan Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG); morals support and informed consent were obtained. Analyses utilized Statistical Package for nan Social Sciences (SPSS) 25.

Group differences were tested pinch chi-square (χ²) and Mann-Whitney tests; associations were assessed utilizing Spearman’s rank-order correlations pinch value astatine p < 0.05, and nan study was tally successful 7 languages.

Study Results

Participants were predominantly young to middle-aged adults (mean property ≈ 37 years), and 59.5% were female. Overall, MedLife scores did not disagree by gender, but pathways to akin totals diverged crossed cultures. Women showed amended adherence to halfway Mediterranean nutrient choices, arsenic they ate little reddish and processed meat, utilized oliva lipid and herbs much consistently, and reported higher rootlike intake.

Men much often met guidance for food aliases seafood, legumes, and moderation of sweets. In dietary habits, item-level patterns split: women much often chose full grains, reduced sweetener successful beverages, and constricted between-meal snacking, whereas men reported greater h2o aliases infusion intake, brackish limitation, and culturally emblematic mean vino consumption, peculiarly successful Mediterranean societies.

On manner behaviors, men scored higher, arsenic they were much often physically active, engaged successful corporate sports, and socialized much pinch friends. Correspondingly, men displayed amended slumber ratio and shorter slumber latency, while women reported longer slumber latency, poorer subjective slumber quality, longer slumber long (interpreted arsenic compensatory for poorer slumber quality), and higher insomnia severity. Technology usage was higher among women.

Psychological profiles besides differed: women reported higher depression, anxiety, and accent connected nan DASS-21 and greater request for psychosocial, physical, and nutritional support; men were much often successful nan normal denotation scope and much apt to study nary request for support.

These patterns whitethorn bespeak some biologic factors (e.g., hormonal influences connected slumber and mood) and sociocultural norms (e.g., men’s reluctance to activity help). Despite these contrasts, applicable relevance emerges from nan correlational pattern: higher MedLife scores aligned pinch healthier regular rhythms.

MedLife correlated positively pinch IPAQ-SF activity (r ≈ 0.30), regular societal information (r ≈ 0.23), and slumber restitution (r ≈ 0.18), and correlated negatively pinch insomnia (r ≈ −0.14), accent (r ≈ −0.09), worry (r ≈ −0.08), and slump (r ≈ −0.12), each p < 0.001 successful two-tailed tests. That intends group who move more, consciousness socially connected, and slumber amended besides thin to prolong MedDiet behaviors.

Importantly, women perceived much barriers wide connected nan MBQ, notably attitudinal obstacles, gaps successful knowledge, and sensation dislikes, whereas men much often cited debased information and aesculapian reasons. Socioeconomic and taste factors crossed regions apt shaped these barriers.

Socio-demographic patterns added context: women clustered successful normal BMI aliases underweight ranges (p < 0.001) and held bachelor’s degrees much often; men were much often overweight, retired, and cigaret smokers, while women were much apt to fume shisha. These BMI differences bespeak associations, not causality.

Taken together, these findings reason for gender-sensitive strategies: for example, assemblage and workplace programs for women that brace nutrition acquisition and slumber support pinch adjacent communities, and activity-anchored, skills-based cooking and hydration prompts for men that leverage athletics and societal routines while accounting for location nutrient environments and taste norms crossed nan 10 participating countries. Recommendations stay tentative pending longitudinal validation.

Conclusions

To summarize, successful a large, multinational sample, adherence to nan MedLife was akin betwixt women and men, but nan levers differed. Women excelled successful MedDiet nutrient choices yet faced poorer slumber and higher psychological burden, while men led successful beingness activity and societal participation. Because higher MedLife scores tracked pinch much movement, amended sleep, and little distress, interventions should merge fare pinch regular rhythms.

Public wellness efforts that admit gender-specific barriers, for illustration knowledge and sensation for women; information and aesculapian constraints for men, tin meaningfully amended effect successful campuses, clinics, and workplaces contempt nan study’s reliance connected self-reported data.

These insights guideline equitable policy, sustained manufacture action, and culturally adapted programs, though causal inferences require further research.