Variable Details
Available Studies
MAP, MARS
Categories
Nutrition
medi_score
Mediterranean diet score (MedDiet score)
The Mediterranean diet score (MedDiet score) measures participants’ adherence to Mediterranean diet guidelines. The Mediterranean diet promotes the almost exclusive use of olive oil as the primary fat, high consumption of fish, and moderate consumption of wines with meals.
Participants’ nutritional information is recorded using the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Food items on the FFQ are categorized into 11 dietary components, each scored 0 to 5.
The total MedDiet score ranges from 0 to 55 and is the sum of the 11 component scores. Higher scores indicate greater diet concordance.
Dietary component servings and scores:
| Diet component | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-refined cereals (servings/week) | 0 | >0 to 6 | >6 to 12 | >12 to 18 | >18 to 31 | >31 |
| Potato (servings/week) | 0 | >0 to 4 | >4 to 8 | >8 to 12 | >12 to 18 | >18 |
| Fruits (servings/week) | 0 | >0 to 4 | >4 to 8 | >8 to 15 | >15 to 21 | >21 |
| Vegetables (servings/week) | 0 | >0 to 6 | >6 to 12 | >12 to 20 | >20 to 32 | >32 |
| Legumes (servings/week) | 0 | >0 to <1 | 1 to 2 | >2 to 4 | >4 to 6 | >6 |
| Fish (servings/week) | 0 | >0 to <1 | 1 to 2 | >2 to 4 | >4 to 6 | >6 |
| Meat (servings/week) | >10 | >7 to 10 | >5 to 7 | >3 to 5 | >1 to 3 | ≤1 |
| Poultry (servings/week) | >10 | >8 to 10 | >6 to 8 | >5 to 6 | >3 to 5 | ≤3 |
| Cheese (servings/week) | >30 | >28 to 30 | >20 to 28 | >15 to 20 | >10 to 15 | ≤10 |
| Olive oil in cooking (times/week) | 0 | 0.5 | 1 | >1 to 3 | >3 to 5 | >5 |
| Alcohol (mL/day) | ≥700 to 0 | 600 to <700 | 500 to <600 | 400 to <500 | 300 to <400 | <300 |
Additional reference: Panagiotakos DB, Pitsavos C, Arvaniti F, Stefanadis C. Adherence to the Mediterranean food pattern predicts the prevalence of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and obesity, among healthy adults; the accuracy of the MedDietScore. Prev Med. 2007 Apr; 44 (4):335-40. PubMed PMID: 17350085.