Validity and reliability of a 14-item screener assessing Mediterranean diet adherence in Western populations

This study aims to test whether a short questionnaire developed and used in the Spanish PREDIMED study (‘Prevention through Diet Mediterranean’) could be used to assess how far people follow a Mediterranean diet in the UK. The study will recruit 100 people at high risk of cardiovascular disease via general practices in Bristol. We will measure how much participants follow the diet by asking them to complete both the questionnaire and a 3-day food record. We will compare the results of these two methods and examine how far sticking to a Mediterranean diet affects participants’ body weight, blood pressure and blood lipid and glucose levels. We will ask participants to complete the questionnaire again a month later. This will help us to see if the questionnaire is fit for purpose and whether it produces similar answers on two different occasions. If it does, we will use the questionnaire in further research to assess people’s diets quickly and advise them on eating a Mediterranean diet.

The project is a collaboration between the Centre of Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences and the School for Social and Community Medicine (University of Bristol, Professor Gene Feder).