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

NCT ID: NCT07247578

Last Updated: 2025-11-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 62 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-07-01
• Study Completion Date: 2025-09-30

Brief Summary

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.

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.

Conditions

Obesity; Sustainability; Education

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

group receiving sustainable nutrition training

group receiving sustainable nutrition training

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

group receiving sustainable nutrition training

Intervention Type: OTHER

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

control group

The group that has not received sustainable nutrition training will be given training at the end of the study.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

the group that did not receive sustainable nutrition education

Intervention Type: OTHER

The group that has not received sustainable nutrition training will be given training at the end of the study.

Interventions

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

Intervention Type: 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.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 20 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 49 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Ayşe Nur Kahve

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Ayşe Nur Kahve

Lecturer Dr.

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Ayşe N Kahve, lecturer

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Aksaray University

Locations

Eda Ocak Nutrition and Diet Consultancy

Konya, Selçuklu, Turkey (Türkiye)

Countries

Turkey (Türkiye)

Related Links

http://www.R-project.org

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

Other Identifiers

ANKahve

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id