Is adherence to the Greek Mediterranean diet by elderly Greek Australians associated with the Greek home garden?

Background and objectives: The Australian arm of the MEDIS (MEDiterranean ISlands) study is a cross sectional survey of socio-demographic, medical history, lifestyle factors and dietary characteristics of elderly Greek Australians over 65 years of age originally from the islands of Crete and the Republic ofCyprus who migrated to Australia up to almost 60 years ago from their homeland. It aims to explore the relationships between cardiovascular disease risk factors and adherence to the Mediterranean diet using the MedDiet Score to explain the persistent low coronary heart disease mortality of Greek migrants to Australia. Growing a home garden has been documented as a form of social connectedness to one’s homeland and is an identifying trait of Greek culture1.It is well documented that the traditional Greek Mediterranean diet is a dietary pattern that is predominantly plant based along with a high intake of olive oil, legumes, fish, seafood and low amounts of meat2 and dairy.The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between a home garden and adherence to the Mediterranean diet which, in addition to acting as a vehicle for the maintenance of culture and tradition may explain the benefits to health and well-being observed in this cohort of elderly Greek Australians. Methods: Data was collected via a lifestyle questionnaire (LQ) and a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and included data as to whether participants grow their own produce such as citrus and stone fruits, tomatoes, onions and garlic, green leafy vegetables and certain herbs. Results: Our preliminary findings indicate a high MedDiet Score is positively correlated with participants who report keeping a home garden, particularly those that grow tomatoes, onions and garlic. Conclusions: It is highly likely that growing one’s own home produce encourages this tradition and pattern of eating.