THE

MEDITERRANEAN
DIET QUALITY
INDEX
(KIDMED)
KIDMED

■ the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED) was developed to

determine whether individuals’ daily diets are consistent with
Mediterranean dietary patterns,.
■
■ KIDMED detects whether individuals’ daily diets are practically
consistent with Mediterranean dietary patterns
■ The index ranges from 0 to 12, and is based on a 16-question test that could be self-
administered or conducted via an interview with, for example, a pediatrician or dietitian.

■ Questions denoting a negative connotation with respect to the MedDiet were assigned a
value of - 1, and those with a positive aspect were scored +1
`
■ The following results were obtained through the accumulation of these points.
– 8 points indicates “optimal” diet quality
– 4–7 points indicates “average” diet quality (improvement needed)
– 3 points indicates “very low” (minimal) diet quality

■ According to these results, people’s daily diets can easily be evaluated.

■ But, during recent decades the MD has been gradually abandoned by Mediterranean
populations, particularly younger generations

■ To address this, the development of educational programs aimed at parents and teachers
is recommended;
– this in turn will allow the MD to spread among children and adolescents
Correlations with the KIDMED score

■ Nutritional knowledge
– Individuals with higher scores of nutritional knowledge were found to have parallel MD scores
■ BMI
– Obese children had lower MD quality scores than other children, and the difference was found to be
statistically significant
■ Rural vs urban area
– Low in both populations
■ Different nationalities
– No significant difference with certain nationality
■ Males vs females
– No significant difference
Nutrition knowledge and KIDMED score
Healthy eating index (HEI)