Navigation
Evaluating Mediterranean diet adherence in university student populations: does this dietary pattern affect students’ academic performance and mental health
Since adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) may enhance academic performance, quality of life as well as mental and physical health in university students, this 2020 review aimed to critically analyse the current evidence with respect to epidemiology (study of distribution and determinants) of MD adherence in university students by comprehensively searching through the PubMed database. Students’ dietary habits are moving away from MD guidelines and more towards unhealthy eating patterns especially in those who live away from home and even those students with a Mediterranean country origin. There are many studies that have documented the association between lower MD adherence and poorer health status, and beneficial effects of higher adherence to MD, which correlates with lower depression risk. The majority of students, even from medical and nutritional university departments, showed a lack of knowledge on healthy eating habits, plus even when students had access to information and knowledge provided by courses and lectures compliance to MD did not increase. Antonopoulou and co. (2020) point out the importance of redirecting research focus on this topic, in order to contribute to improvements in diet, quality of life, mental and physical health of students. [NPID: performance, academic achievement, scholastic performance, academic performance, quality of life, university students, college, Med diet, Mediterranean diet]
Year: 2020
