Adherence and barriers to Mediterranean diet in Tunisian patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Figures & data

Table 1. Patient characteristics.

Characteristics	Frequency
Number	41
Age (years)	56 (29–70)
Gender (M/F)	11/30
Educational level (%)   – Illiterate   – Primary   – Secondary or university	12 51 37
Socioeconomic level (%)   – Stockings^†   – Medium^‡   – Good^§	7 88 5
Professional activity (%)   – Yes   – No	39 61
BMI (kg/m^2)	30.74 ± 4.23
Physical activity (%)   – Sedentary^¶   – Moderate^#   – Important^††	54 14 32
Comorbidities (%)   – Diabetes mellitus   – Arterial hypertension   – Dyslipidemia   – Overweight (BMI >25 kg/m2)   – Metabolic syndrome	41 46 58 95 51

† Average household income is <400 TD.

‡ Average household income between 400 and 1000 TD.

§ Average household income >1000 TD.

¶ Sedentary: Irregular practice or absence of sporting physical activity.

# Moderate physical activity: regular participation in at least 30 min of sporting physical activity one to two-times per week.

†† Important physical activity: regular participation in at least 30 min of sporting physical activity ≥three-times per week.

TD: Tunisian Dinar.

Figure 1. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet after 1 month of initiation.

Table 2. Barriers to good adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

Barrier	Frequency (%)
Misunderstanding of the MD	29
Lack of willpower to follow the MD	24
Lack of time to prepare the specific foods in the MD	7
Extra food cost induced by the MD	50
Uncooperative family members	12
Difficulty of adapting to a new dietary mode	37

MD: Mediterranean diet.

Table 3. Risk factors for lack of good adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

Factor	Good adherence		p-value
	Yes (n = 6)	No (n = 35)
Gender (%)   M   F	33 67	26 74	0.651 0.651
Low or medium socioeconomic level (%)	67	63	1
The illiterate or primary level of education (%)	100	94	1
Misunderstanding of the MD (%)	50	26	0.334
Lack of willpower to follow the MD	0	29	0.307
Lack of time to prepare the specific foods in the MD (%)	0	9	1
Extra food cost induced by the MD (%)	0	57	0.021
Uncooperative family members (%)	17	11	0.567
Difficulty of adapting to a new dietary mode (%)	83	31	0.026

Bold values indicates risk factors statically associated with non-adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

MD: Mediterranean diet.