Is adopting the Mediterranean diet a millennial challenge?

Although millennials’ social media accounts often feature pictures of delicious foods, they do not necessarily maintain a healthy diet. Age and culture may play a significant role in a person’s dietary choices.

Lluis Serra-Majem, professor at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and president of the International Foundation of the Mediterranean Diet, has criticised the eating habits of millennials, claiming their diet has shifted over the generations.

“Young people in the Mediterranean region have been eating more processed, Western-style foods and meat than older generations.”

While foods such as red meats, poultry, eggs, cheese and yoghurt are staple food items of Western cuisine, the Mediterranean diet consumes those foods in moderation. Instead, the diet promotes a higher intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, wholegrains, breads, herbs, spices, fish, seafood and extra virgin olive oil.

As a consumer of the diet, Serra-Majem began researching its health effects in the late 1980s. He found that despite the World Health Organization’s fat restrictions painting olive oil in a negative light, there are many proven health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

“The science behind the diet is now very strong, with large-cohort studies and randomised clinical trials, like the Predimed and the Predimed Plus studies,” he said.

These health benefits include greater protection against cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, some cancers, cognitive decline, depression, allergic and respiratory diseases, and bone diseases.

Poor dietary habits may have been passed down through generations, but Serra-Majem also acknowledged the impact of culture on people’s diets.

“We are aiming to construct a worldwide scenario where environment and culture should be considered strong determinants of the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet.”

While Asian cuisine already adopts healthy habits, statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) show that 63% of Australian adults are overweight or obese. The rising obesity rates in Australia therefore suggest dietary changes are necessary in the future.

Research conducted in Australia and Asia support the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, with Australian nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton highlighting the downfalls of the average diet.

“We underconsume vegetables, fruit; we underconsume wholegrains; we certainly underconsume either the dairy products or the alternatives to dairy products; we underconsume things like nuts; and we choose too many poor-quality fats, instead of good-quality fats like olive oil,” Dr Stanton said.

Plant-based foods and clean eating trends have peaked in recent years with popular food trends such as smashed avocado on wholegrain toast. This could be the closest younger generations have come to adopting the Mediterranean diet. Although the scrutiny has fallen on millennials in particular, it could be that changing the cultural mindset towards food is necessary to encourage healthier eating.