Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-5xszh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T10:45:07.831Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Changes in food supply in Mediterranean countries from 1961 to 2001

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Reina Garcia-Closas
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, IDIBELL–Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Av Gran Via s/n, km 2,7, ES-08907 L'Hospitalet, Barcelona, Spain
Antoni Berenguer
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, IDIBELL–Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Av Gran Via s/n, km 2,7, ES-08907 L'Hospitalet, Barcelona, Spain
Carlos A González*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, IDIBELL–Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Av Gran Via s/n, km 2,7, ES-08907 L'Hospitalet, Barcelona, Spain
*
*Corresponding author: Email cagonzalez@ico.scs.es
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective

To describe geographical differences and time trends in the supply of the most important food components of the traditional Mediterranean diet.

Design

Food supply data collected from national food balance sheets for the period 1961–2001.

Setting

Selected Mediterranean countries: Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.

Results

Differences of almost 30-fold and five-fold were found in the supply of olive oil and fruits and vegetables, respectively, among the Mediterranean countries studied during the 1960s. A favourable increasing trend for the supply of fruit and vegetables was observed in most Mediterranean countries. However, an increase in the supply of meats and dairy products and a decrease in the supply of cereals and wine were observed in European Mediterranean countries from 1961 until 2001. Only in African and Asiatic Mediterranean countries were cereals the base of food supply. During the 1990s, Greece's food supply pattern was closest to the traditional Mediterranean diet, while Italy and Spain maintained a high availability of fruits, vegetables and olive oil, but were losing the other typical components. Among African and Asiatic Mediterranean countries, only Turkey presented a traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern except with respect to olive oil, the supply of which was very low. France showed a Western dietary pattern, with a high supply of animal products and a low supply of olive oil.

Conclusions

Dietary supplies in the Mediterranean area were quite heterogeneous in the 1960s and have experienced a process of Westernization, especially in European Mediterranean countries.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2006

References

1Willett, WC, Sacks, F, Trichopoulou, A, Drescher, G, Ferro-Luzzi, A, Helsing, E, et al. Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1995; 61(Suppl.): 1402S–6S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Trichopoulou, A, Lagiou, P. Healthy traditional Mediterranean diet: an expression of culture, history and lifestyle. Nutrition Reviews 1997; 55: 383–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Keys, A, ed. Seven Countries: A Multivariate Analysis of Death and Coronary Heart Diseases. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4Helsing, E. Traditional diets and disease patterns of the Mediterranean, circa 1960. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1995; 61(Suppl.): 1329S–37S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)/World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF). Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer. A Global Perspective. Washington, DC: AICR/WCRF, 1997.Google Scholar
6McDermott, JH. Antioxidant nutrients: current dietary recommendations and research update. Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association 2000; 40: 785–99.Google ScholarPubMed
7De Lorgeril, M, Salen, P. Mediterranean type of diet for the prevention of coronary heart disease. International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research 2001; 71: 166–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Simopoulos, AP. The Mediterranean diets: what is so special about the diet of Greece? The scientific evidence. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131(Suppl.) 3065S–73S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Trichopoulou, A, Costacou, T, Bamia, C, Trichopoulos, D. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population. New England Journal of Medicine 2003; 348: 2599–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Keys, A, Keys, M. How to Eat Well and Stay Well: The Mediterranean Way. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1975.Google Scholar
11Ferro-Luzzi, A, Sette, S. The Mediterranean diet: an attempt to define its present and past composition. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1989; 43(Suppl.): 1329.Google ScholarPubMed
12Nestle, M. Mediterranean diets: historical and research overview. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1995; 61(Suppl.): 1313S–20S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Gibson, RS. Principles of Nutritional Assessment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.Google Scholar
14Becker, W, Helsing, E, ed. Food and Health Data: Their Use in Nutrition Policy Making. Regional Publication, European Series No. 34. Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, 1991.Google Scholar
15Food and Agriculture Organization. Food Balance Sheets [online]. Available at http://www.fao.org. Accessed 15 January 2004.Google Scholar
16Gifford, KD, Drescher, G, Jenkins, NH, eds. Diets of the Mediterranean: A Summary Report of the 1993 International Conference on the Diets of the Mediterranean, Cambridge, MA, 20–23 January 1993. Boston, MA: Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust and Harvard School of Public Health, 1993.Google Scholar
17Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). Encuesta de presupuestos familiares 1990–91. Estudio nacional de nutrición y alimentación. Madrid: INE, 1990.Google Scholar
18Karamanos, B, Thanopoulou, A, Angelico, F, Assaad-Khalil, S, Barbato, A, Del Ben, M, et al. Nutritional habits in the Mediterranean Basin. The macronutrient composition of diet and its relation with the traditional Mediterranean diet. Multi-centre study of the Mediterranean Group for the Study of Diabetes (MGSD). European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002; 56: 983–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19Slimani, N, Fahey, M, Welch, AA, Wirfalt, E, Stripp, C, Bergstrom, E, et al. Diversity of dietary patterns observed in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) project. Public Health Nutrition 2002; 5: 1311–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Benjelloun, S. Nutrition transition in Morocco. Public Health Nutrition 2002; 5: 135–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Gharbi, M, Hani, AB, Aouidet, A, Akrout, M, Nasraoui, A, Tritar, B. Dietary intake in the urban and rural populations of the Cap-Bon. Revue d'Epidemiologie et de Sante Publique 1998; 46: 164–75.Google Scholar
22Trichopoulou, A, Naska, A, Costacou, T, DAFNE III Group. Disparities in food habits across Europe. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 2002; 61: 553–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Trichopoulou, A, Naska, A, Antoniou, A, Friel, S, Trygg, K, Turrini, A. Vegetable and fruit: the evidence in their favour and the public health perspective. International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research 2003; 73: 63–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Panagiotakos, DB, Pitsavos, C, Polychronopoulos, E, Chrysohoou, C, Zampelas, A, Trichopoulou, A. Can a Mediterranean diet moderate the development and clinical progression of coronary heart disease? A systematic review. Medical Science Monitor 2004; 10: 193–8.Google ScholarPubMed
25La Vecchia, C. Mediterranean diet and cancer. Public Health Nutrition 2004; 7: 965–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed