Mediterranean Diet and Motivation in Sport: A Comparative Study Between University Students from Spain and Romania

Overview

Journal Nutrients

Date 2018 Dec 26

PMID 30583539

Citations 13

Authors

Ramon Chacon-Cuberos

Georgian Badicu

Felix Zurita-Ortega

Manuel Castro-Sanchez

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is one of the healthiest dietary models worldwide, being an essential mean of preventing pathologies along with the practice of physical activity. Through a comparative study carried out across different countries, it has been demonstrated how this type of habits vary depending on the geographical context. The aim of this research was to evaluate the adherence to MD and its relationships with motivational climate in sport on a sample of university students from Spain and Romania; Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of university students [specialization: Physical Education ( = 605; 20.71 ± 2.42 years old)], using as main instruments the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) for students and adolescents and the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2); Results: It was shown that students from Spain had a high adherence to the MD (6.65 ± 2.63 vs. 5.06 ± 1.31). Spanish university students got higher scores in task-oriented motivational climate (4.03 ± 0.62 vs. 3.11 ± 0.55) while ego-oriented climate was higher in university students from Romania (3.24 ± 0.54 vs. 2.07 ± 0.75). Finally, it was observed that the task-oriented motivational climate was related to a lower adherence to MD in Spanish students (4.49 ± 0.37 vs. 3.98 ± 0.62). In contrast, in Romanian youth, a medium adherence to the MD was associated with higher scores for the ego-oriented motivational climate (3.27 ± 0.53 vs. 3.00 ± 0.54); Conclusions: As main conclusions, it was shown that the students from Spain had a high adherence to the MD. In addition, it has been demonstrated that ego-oriented climates are linked to a better adherence to MD, especially due to the importance of following a proper diet in sport contexts, as demonstrated by young Romanians.

Citing Articles

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Recreational Physical Activity and the Mediterranean Diet: Their Effects on Obesity-Related Body Image Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorders.

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