Effect of Tourism Pressure on the Mediterranean Diet Pattern

Despite proposed conceptual frameworks of eating behaviors, little is known about environmental factors contributing to changes in food habits. Few studies have reported the external influence of tourism on the inhabitants' eating patterns. The present study aimed to investigate whether tourism...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nutrients 2018-09, Vol.10 (10), p.1338
Main Authors: Rodríguez-Mireles, Silvia, López-Valcárcel, Beatriz G, Serra-Majem, Lluís, Hernández-Yumar, Aránzazu, Barber-Pérez, Patricia, Pinilla-Domínguez, Jaime, Rodríguez-Feijoo, Santiago, Rodríguez-Caro, Alejandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diet, Mediterranean - economics
Diet, Mediterranean - ethnology
dietary pattern
Feeding Behavior - ethnology
Female
Health Behavior - ethnology
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice - ethnology
Humans
Male
Mediterranean diet
Middle Aged
Risk Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Spain
tourism pressure
Travel - economics
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Summary:Despite proposed conceptual frameworks of eating behaviors, little is known about environmental factors contributing to changes in food habits. Few studies have reported the external influence of tourism on the inhabitants' eating patterns. The present study aimed to investigate whether tourism pressure affects Canary Islands inhabitants' adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern. Data were obtained from a health and lifestyle population-based survey conducted in 2009 and 2015. From the reported intake frequency, a Mediterranean diet score was defined (0 to 11 points). Tourist overnight stays, which were stratified by nationality and area of destination, were used as a proxy variable to measure tourism pressure. A multilevel linear regression analysis by restricted maximum likelihood estimation was performed to examine the relationship between tourism pressure and the Mediterranean diet score. A significant negative association between the Mediterranean diet score and British tourism pressure was observed ( = -0.0064, = 0.010), whereas German tourism pressure increased inhabitants' adherence ( = 0.0092, = 0.042). The socioeconomic level of tourists seems to play a role in differences in the tourism pressure effect by nationality. Further investigation of other highly touristic destinations is needed to confirm these findings that could contribute to a shift in tourism and public health nutrition policies.
ISSN:2072-6643
2072-6643
DOI:10.3390/nu10101338