Nutritional health assistance for adapting food culture to the Mediterranean pattern for international students: study protocol.

Abstract

Internationalising university students has become increasingly common due to globalisation. Dietary acculturation involves adapting to new ingredients, foods, and eating habits. This adaptation can have positive and negative effects on health, depending on the host and home countries dietary. This study aims to evaluate adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD), nutritional status, and physical activity levels among international students before and after a nutritional intervention. 23 students will participate in a six-month food education program. During three in-person sessions, assessments will include body composition, dietary intake, physical activity, sleep habits, physical and mental well-being, adherence to the MD, and orthorexia or disordered eating symptoms. Differences at three follow-up points will be analysed using ANOVA for repeated measures or the Friedman test, with significance set at 0.05. Assessing dietary acculturation levels can help tailor nutritional education strategies to improve healthy habits and nutritional status, potentially reducing chronic diseases risk.

Trial registration: NCT06474936.