Elisa Proietti e Consuelo Borgarelli
Università di Genova
Background and Aims:
Euroflora is one of the main floral events in Europe. For the visibility to a national and international public, it is also considered one of the most important events all over the Ligurian area. Polyclinic Hospital San Martino, in collaboration with Unige Dietetics Degree Course, Agricultural Institute of Marsano, Marco Polo and Bergese Hotel Institutes of Genoa, decided to take part in this event setting up a stand to promote health and food education, based on concept “good food and good health”.
Methods:
The 80 mq of stand, decorated with edible flowering plants and aromatic herbs belonging to Mediterranean scrub by agricultural school students, hosted a synergistic vegetable garden. The Dietetics degree course in collaboration with Hotel Institutes prepared informative material: a brochure showing nutritional properties of plants and flowers present in the stand and a "health" recipe book that suggests the use of these plants, with a view to food sustainability. The activity at Euroflora was an integral part of the internship of the students of the Degree Course who carried out food education activities, also submitting the Medi-lite questionnaire to the participants and providing personalized indications in relation to the score obtained.
Results:
884 people visited the Polyclinic stand, completed the Medi-lite questionnaire and received personalized indications to improve their eating habits. From the preliminary analysis of the questionnaires, the mean adherence score was 12 ± 2, significantly higher in women than in men (p=0.022). Analyzing the main components, we observed that the Medi-Lite items on the consumption of some products generated response clusters. Subjects who consume more meat, tend to eat more dairy products as well, so it could be index of a fattier diet. By contrast, subjects who consume more fish also consume more fruits and vegetables, with a trend to prefer healthier foods.
Conclusion:
Although the sample's adherence to the Mediterranean Diet score is good/moderate, initiatives such as Euroflora's "Good food and good health" could foster a synergistic action between the education world and the scientific world, in order to increase responsibility and awareness of citizens in compliance with correct eating habits in a non-healthcare setting.
Tema
5. public engagement: citizen science
