There is a tendency in nowadays, the assessment of nutritional habits, especially, in epidemiological studies, to be based on the development of composite diet indexes. Thus, according to the rationale of the Mediterranean dietary pattern, a diet score, the MedDietScore [1] has been developed. In particular, the weekly consumption of the following 9 food groups: non-refined cereals (whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice, etc.), fruit, vegetables, legumes, potatoes, fish, meat and meat products, poultry, full fat dairy products (like cheese, yoghurt, milk), as well as olive oil and alcohol intake, were included.
Contents
The scoring system
Based on the suggested intake monotonic functions were applied (by the exception of alcohol intake) in order to score the frequency consumption of these foods. Scores from 0 to 5 or the reverse were assigned in each of the food groups according to their position in the Mediterranean diet pyramid. For the consumption of items presumed to be close to this pattern (i.e. those suggested on a daily basis or more than 3 portions per week; i.e., non-refined cereals, fruits, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish and potatoes) scores 0 were assigned when someone reported no consumption and scores 1 to 5 for rare to daily consumption. For the consumption of foods presumed to be away from this diet pattern (i.e. rare or monthly consumption; meat and meat products, poultry and full fat dairy products) scores were assigned on a reverse scale (i.e., from 5 when someone reported no consumption to 0 when they reported almost daily consumption). Especially for alcohol a non-monotonic function was applied, i.e., score 5 for consumption of less than 300 ml of alcohol per day, score 0 for no consumption or for consumption of >700 ml per day and scores 4 to 1 for consumption of 600-700, 500-600, 400-500 and 300-400 ml per day (100 ml have 12 g ethanol concentration). Thus, the score theoretically ranges from 0 to 55, and higher values indicate greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
Validation of the MedDietScore
The MedDietScore has been found repeatable [2] and accurate in evaluating individuals at high risk for hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease [3]. Moreover, the MedDietScore has been validated against fatty acids consumption [4].
Computer version
A user-friendly, computer-based version of the MedDietScore is free of use upon request [5].