Compliance with the European and national nutritional objectives in a Mediterranean population

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 61; no. 12; pp. 1345 - 1351
• Main Authors: Bondia-Pons, I, Serra-Majem, L, Castellote, A.I, Lopez-Sabater, M.C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing 01-12-2007; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Body Height; Body Weight; Calcium; Calcium, Dietary - administration & dosage; Carbohydrates; Cardiovascular disease; Catalan Nutrition Survey; Catalonia; Clinical nutrition; Compliance; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Diet, Mediterranean; Dietary Carbohydrates - administration & dosage; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated - administration & dosage; Dietary intake; dietary recommendations; dietary surveys; Eating behavior; eating habits; Energy intake; Energy Intake - physiology; Fatty acid composition; Fatty acids; Female; Food; Food intake; Food science; Fruit; Fruits; Gender; Gender aspects; Gender differences; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Men; Metabolic diseases; monounsaturated fatty acids; Nutrients; Nutrition; nutrition assessment; Nutrition Policy; Nutrition research; Nutrition Surveys; nutritional status; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity - prevention & control; Objectives; omega-3 fatty acids; Overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Overweight - prevention & control; Pharmacy; Plasma; Polls & surveys; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Questionnaires; Sex differences; Sex Distribution; Sodium; Sodium Chloride, Dietary - administration & dosage; Spain - epidemiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vegetables; Waist-Hip Ratio; Women; Womens health; Mediterranean region; Europe; Spain; Human; Nutrition; Mediterranean diet; Lipids; European; Fatty acids; Feeding; Blood plasma; Objective; Diet; Spanish nutritional objectives; European nutritional objectives; plasma fatty acids; Public health
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602662

Objective: To analyze compliance with the current European and Spanish nutritional objectives in a representative sample from Catalonia, a Spanish Mediterranean region; and to examine relationships between diet and plasma fatty acid composition. Design: Cross-sectional nutritional survey. Setting: Population based random sample derived from the Catalan Nutrition Survey. Subjects: A total of 516 healthy adult men (n=203) and women (n=313). Methods: Dietary habits were assessed by means of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire. A physical exam included height, weight, waist and hip circumferences, and a fasting blood draw. Results: Gender differences were observed in nutrient and energy intakes. Women showed a better compliance with the nutritional recommendations for monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) than did men. Men showed a better compliance for saturated fatty acid (SFA) and carbohydrate than did women. However, the SFA:MUFA:PUFA ratio was similar in both gender (1.6:2.3:1.0 for men; 1.7:2.5:1.0 for women). The highest compliance was observed for nutritional goals of sodium, calcium and fruit and vegetable intakes for both genders. In addition, the present study showed that levels of certain fatty acids in plasma are clearly associated with dietary intake of foods rich in these components. The highest correlations were found for n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids with blue fish intake in both men and women (r(men)=0.36 and r(women)=0.42; P<0.001). Conclusions: The diet followed in Catalonia seems to ensure compliance with most of the intermediate nutritional objectives for the Spanish population. However, a reduction in the SFA intake and an increase in the carbohydrate intake could be recommended in order to reduce the current prevalence of overweight and obesity in this Mediterranean region.