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Factors determining the nutrition transition in two Mediterranean islands: Sardinia and Malta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Sophie Tessier  and
Mariette Gerber
Sophie Tessier*
Affiliation:
Groupe d'Epidémiologie Métabolique, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie, INSERM-CRLC, F-34298 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Mariette Gerber
Affiliation:
Groupe d'Epidémiologie Métabolique, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie, INSERM-CRLC, F-34298 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
*
*Corresponding author: Email sotessier@yahoo.fr
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Abstract

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Objective

To examine and analyse consumption changes over time of 24 food items between Sardinia and Malta.

Setting

The data were collected in 2001 in Sardinia and 2002 in Malta.

Design

A structured qualitative questionnaire, articulated around four main themes: food supply, transformation, preparation and consumption habits, was administered by face-to-face interviews with the help of a local person. It encompassed mainly open-ended questions, which allowed us to measure factors contributing to change.

Subjects

Thirty mother–daughter pairs were interviewed in each insular territory.

Results

Despite a common trend revealing a shift away from cereals, pulses and potatoes to the benefit of meat products, fats and sugar, our results showed contrasting evolutions in food consumption between both insular societies. Fruit and vegetables, olive oil and fish, which are part of the main features of the Mediterranean diet, were among the top foods for which consumption frequency has increased in Sardinia. In Malta, besides an increase in olive oil and vegetable consumption, cheeses and desserts showed the highest increase. Along with modernity and improved living conditions, enhanced commercial availability and increased diversity of food preparation were also identified as factors contributing to food consumption changes.

Conclusions

Although the Sardo-Mediterranean model is evolving under the impact of modernisation, it is not disappearing. In Malta, however, modernity has led to a more sudden shift from a state of food shortage to one of affluence, but in a cultural context where the identity is no longer Mediterranean but Anglo-Saxon.

Keywords

Mediterranean dietFood habitsInsular societiesSocio-economic changesTemporal evolutionGenerations
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 8 , December 2005 , pp. 1286 - 1292
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

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