Affiliations: [a] Laboratory of Health Sciences and Technics, High Institute of Health Sciences, Hassan 1st University, Settat, Morocco
| [b] Laboratory of Human Ecology. Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakesh, Morocco
| [c] Consultant Epidemiologist, Luxembourg
| [d] Unidad de Antropología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: El Mokhtari Oussama, Laboratory of Health Sciences and Technics, High Institute of Health Sciences, Hassan 1st University, University Complex, Road of Casablanca, Post Box 555, Settat, Morocco, Tel.: +212667754847, E-mail: [email protected]; ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4984-7320.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The traditional Moroccan diet is typical of the Mediterranean diet (MD), but there have been few studies of the adherence of Moroccans adolescents to this diet and associated factors. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate MD adherence and its association with socioeconomic factors, nutritional status and dietary intake in a sample of secondary school pupils in the Rif region of Morocco. METHODS:In a cross-sectional study of a sample (n = 302) of Moroccan Riffian adolescents (13–18 years) from three secondary schools, we measured adherence to MD with the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for children and teenagers questionnaire (KIDMED). A score below 8 was qualified as poor to average adherence to MD, while an optimal adherence was defined as a score of 8 or higher. Bivariate analyses and a logistic regression model were used to examine associations between adherence to MD and socioeconomic factors, nutritional status and dietary intake. RESULTS:Only 14.9% of adolescents had an optimal adherence to the MD (score≥8 points), 72.8% had average adherence (score 4–7) and 12.3% had poor adherence to the MD (score≤3). The factors associated with optimal adherence to MD were female sex (OR 2.28; 95% CI 1.07 –4.85; p = 0.031), high monthly family income > 8000 MAD (OR 7.10; 95% CI 1.52 –33.1; p = 0.013) and living in an apartment (OR 3.85; 95% CI 1.43 –10.3; p = 0.007). For others factors such as nutritional status and dietary intake, no associations were observed. CONCLUSION:We found a low level of adherence to the MD among adolescents in the Rif region, supporting the hypothesis that the dietary pattern of these Moroccan adolescents is in a transitional state characterised by a shift away from the traditional MD. The findings of this study suggest that interventions to optimize MD adherence should target boys, shared residences and lower income families.
