Is high adaptation to the Mediterranean diet effective in increasing ecological footprint awareness? A cross-sectional study from Turkey

Background: The effect of diet type on sustainable environment is known. It is important to understand the adaptation of individuals with high ecological footprint awareness to the Mediterranean type diet, especially under the assumption that the Mediterranean diet will reduce the ecological footprint. In the study, it is aimed to examine the relationship between the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and Ecological Footprint awareness of adults.

Results: The sample of the study consisted of 395 individuals with a mean age of 26.2 ± 8.7 years: 293 females (74.2%) and 102 males (25.8%). As the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Scale (MDAS) score of individuals increased, the Ecological Footprint Awareness Scale score also increased. Similarly, a positive correlation was found between the participants' MDAS score and the awareness of food (r = 0.157; P = 0.002), energy (r = 0.133; P = 0.008), waste (r = 0.149; P = 0.003) and water consumption (r = 0.101; P = 0.045), which are sub-factors of the Ecological Footprint Awareness Scale.

Conclusion: As far as is known, this cross-sectional study is one of the first studies on compliance with the Mediterranean diet and awareness of the ecological footprint. The findings of the study show that as individuals' compliance with the Mediterranean diet increases, their awareness of their ecological footprint will also increase. To reach a conclusion on this issue, future studies should evaluate the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and awareness of food-environmental impact on different samples. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.