Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Determinants of Adherence to Current Dietary Recommendations and Diet Quality in Middle-Aged Spanish Premenopausal Women

Marina Alonso-Cabezas; Marina Pollán; Isabel Alonso-Ledesma; Nerea Fernández de Larrea-Baz; Pilar Lucas; Ángeles Sierra; Adela Castelló; Marina Nieves Pino; Beatriz Pérez-Gómez; Mercedes Martínez-Cortés; Virginia Lope; Emma Ruiz-Moreno

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.904330

Sociodemographic and Lifestyle Determinants of Adherence to Current Dietary Recommendations and Diet Quality in Middle-Aged Spanish Premenopausal Women

Front Nutr. 2022 Jun 14:9:904330. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.904330. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Marina Alonso-Cabezas¹, Marina Pollán^{2

3}, Isabel Alonso-Ledesma², Nerea Fernández de Larrea-Baz^{2

3}, Pilar Lucas², Ángeles Sierra^{2

3}, Adela Castelló^{2

3

4}, Marina Nieves Pino⁵, Beatriz Pérez-Gómez^{2

3}, Mercedes Martínez-Cortés⁵, Virginia Lope^{2

3}, Emma Ruiz-Moreno^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Farmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
² Department of Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases, National Center for Epidemiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
³ Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
⁴ Department of Surgery, Medical and Social Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
⁵ Servicio de Prevención y Promoción de la Salud, Madrid Salud, Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

Background: A healthy diet when approaching menopause could prevent some of the symptoms associated with the climacteric. Few studies examine adherence to current healthy dietary recommendations in middle-aged premenopausal women. Our objective was to analyze the diet quality and the adherence to the Spanish Society of Community Nutrition (SENC) dietary recommendations in middle-aged Spanish premenopausal women, and to identify the associated sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on 1251 premenopausal women, aged 39-50, who attended to Madrid City Council Medical Diagnostic Center. Women completed an epidemiological and a food frequency questionnaire. Degree of adherence to the SENC recommendations was estimated with a score that evaluated null (0 points) and full (1 point) adherence of each specific recommendation. Associations were explored using an ordinal logistic multivariable regression model.

Results: Regarding food groups, the worst adherence was found for sweets, red/processed meat, olive oil and eggs. Most of the participants exceeded the recommended caloric intake from proteins and fats, and practically all of them showed vitamin D intake deficiency. The overall score ranged from 2 to 12 (out of 15), with a median of 6.0 (interquartile range: 5.0-7.0). Former smokers (OR: 1.38; 95%CI: 1.08-1.78), as well as those with higher educational level (OR_SSecondary:1.68; 95%CI: 0.97-2.93, OR_University:1.82; 95%IC: 1.05-3.14), with two or more children (OR: 1.31; 95%IC: 1.00-1.72), with higher caloric intake (OR_{>2188.2kcal/day}: 8.22; 95%CI: 6.19-10.92) and with greater physical activity (OR_{≥21METS-h/week}: 1.29; 95%CI: 0.95-1.76) showed greater adherence.

Conclusions: Almost two-thirds of middle-aged premenopausal participants showed low or moderate compliance with SENC recommendations. Education, smoking, parity, and physical activity were associated with the degree of adherence to these recommendations.

Keywords: DDM-Madrid; SENC recommendations; cross-sectional study; dietary guidelines; dietary habits; dietary reference values; healthy diet; premenopause.