The Connection Between Nutrition Education, Behavior, and Body Composition in Women Following a Mediterranean Diet (diet)

The Link Between Nutrition Education, Behavior, and Body Composition of Women Following a Mediterranean Diet: A Sustainable Approach

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Mediterranean Diet and Sustainable Nutrition Education on anthropometric measurements (Weight (kg), BMI, body fat percentage (%), body fat mass (kg), fat-free mass (kg), muscle mass (kg), total body fluid (kg), visceral fat, waist circumference (cm), waist-to-height ratio, and waist-to-hip ratio). It is believed that this education will help bring body composition closer to optimal reference values. This study is expected to reduce energy intake, increase dietary fiber intake, reduce protein from animal sources and increase plant proteins in women's diets, and thus replace saturated fats with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs). This is expected to result in a decrease in body weight and body fat mass.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity; Education; Sustainability
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: group receiving sustainable nutrition training; Other: the group that did not receive sustainable nutrition education

Detailed Description

The Mediterranean diet, in its oldest known definition, is considered a health-promoting dietary model due to its unique characteristics, including regular consumption of unsaturated fats, low-glycemic carbohydrates, high amounts of fiber, vitamins, and moderate amounts of animal-sourced protein. The Mediterranean diet pyramid recommends consuming fish and seafood at least twice a week, 2 servings of white meat, 2-4 servings of eggs, less than 2 servings of red meat, 1 serving or less of processed meat, and less than 3 servings of sweets. Daily, it recommends 2 servings of dairy products, 1-2 servings of seeds and nuts, and increased consumption of spices, herbs, garlic, and onions. It also emphasizes that each main meal should include 1-2 servings of fruit, more than 2 servings of vegetables, olive oil, and 1-2 servings of whole grains. Today, the Healthy Mediterranean Dietary Pattern is included in the 2020-2025 version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, not only in the Mediterranean region where its name originates, but also because it is considered a variation of the Healthy American Dietary Pattern. Furthermore, the Mediterranean diet was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.

Sustainable diets are diets that preserve and respect biodiversity and ecosystems; are culturally acceptable, accessible, economically feasible and affordable; are nutritionally adequate, safe, and healthy; and make optimal use of natural and human resources. The concept of sustainable food consumption is receiving increasing attention due to global population growth and the threats of climate change. Food production and consumption are among the primary drivers of environmental degradation.

Today, nutritionists emphasize the need to focus on the impact of nutrition on human health, the environment, and food, in contrast to dietary guidelines. Studies examining sustainable dietary behaviors have increased in recent years. Several mechanisms may explain the link between healthier and more sustainable dietary choices and education. Education can be conducive to sustainable diets (e.g., reducing meat consumption) because it encourages the ability to seek and utilize new sources of information, including nutritional information.

In recent years, there has been a focus on the Mediterranean diet's suitability as a sustainable nutrition model due to its high content of plant-based foods and its low ecological, carbon, and water footprint.

This planned study sampled women who follow the Mediterranean diet. The aim was to assess their sustainable nutrition behaviors through sustainable nutrition education sessions. Thus, it is unique in that it is the first study in Turkey to evaluate the suitability of the Mediterranean diet as a sustainable nutrition model and to examine women's anthropometric measurements.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 62
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Selçuklu
    • Konya, Selçuklu, Turkey (Türkiye), 42100
      • Eda Ocak Nutrition and Diet Consultancy

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• o Being a woman between 20 and 49 years of age

  • Having a BMI between 25 kg/m2 and 35 kg/m2
  • Not having any conditions that would impair reality testing ability or cognitive functions and prevent interviews or filling out scales
  • Being literate
  • Having agreed to participate in the study and signed the informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

• o Pregnant and breastfeeding women

  • Those who were unable to attend one or more interview sessions
  • Individuals with implanted pacemakers or defibrillators due to the theoretical possibility of interference with device activity due to the current field caused by impedance measurements
  • Those with any chronic disease and diet
  • Those who regularly use medications that affect metabolism
  • Those using insulin and oral antidiabetic medications
  • Those with allergies or intolerances to any food components of the Mediterranean diet (walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds, etc.)
  • Those with a psychiatric illness diagnosed by a physician.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: group receiving sustainable nutrition training	Other: group receiving sustainable nutrition training; Sustainable Nutrition Training; Within the scope of this study, face-to-face sustainable nutrition training will be given individually to the trained group by an expert dietitian for 1 hour, once every 2 weeks. As part of this study, the group will receive one-hour, face-to-face, individual sustainable nutrition training from a registered dietitian every two weeks. The training flow chart is shown below. Week 1 Educational Topic: Food Choices,Definition of Greenhouse Gases, Environmentally Sensitive Foods, Environmental Impacts of Food Groups, Definition of Water Footprint and Carbon Footprint Week 2 Educational Topic: Reducing Food Waste, Definition of the Ecological Footprint, Definition of Food Waste, Environmental Impacts of Food Waste, Methods for Utilizing Food Without Wasting, The Most Wasted Foods in the World and in Turkey, Ways to Reduce Food Waste Week 3 Educational Topic: Seasonal and Local Nutrition, Definition of Traditional/Regional Foods
Active Comparator: control group; The group that has not received sustainable nutrition training will be given training at the end of the study.	Other: the group that did not receive sustainable nutrition education; The group that has not received sustainable nutrition training will be given training at the end of the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Body mass index	Body mass index (BMI) will be calculated by dividing body weight by height in square meters and will be evaluated according to the WHO classification for adults.	8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Body fat percentage	Individuals body weight and body composition will be measured using foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Body fat percentage (% fat) will be measured using the TANITA MC 580.	8 weeks
body fat mass	Individuals body weight and body composition will be measured using foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).Body fat mass will be measured using the TANITA MC 580.	8 weeks
visceral adiposity	Individuals body weight and body composition will be measured using foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Visceral adiposity, will be measured using the TANITA MC 580.	8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ayşe Nur Kahve
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ayşe N Kahve, lecturer, Aksaray University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• R Core Team. (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): September 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 15, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 22, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 22, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Obesity, Mediterranean diet, sustainability
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Overnutrition; Body Weight; Overweight; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: ANKahve

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: all IPD that underlie results in a publication
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: June 2025-September 2025
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Working at a recognized academic institution, university, research hospital or public research organization.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No