Gregorio
Varelas-Moreiras
Gregorio Varelas-Moreiras
Spain - Madrid
Biography
Professor of Nutrition and Food Science at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the San Pablo-CEU University in Madrid, Director of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, and Director of the CEU Institute "Food and Society". Head of the Research Group of Excellence "Nutrition for Life", and President of the Spanish Federation of Nutrition, Food and Dietetics Societies (FESNAD). Full Academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors, and of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy, and Corresponding Academician of the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Galicia, and founding member of the Spanish Academy of Nutrition and Food Sciences. He has published more than 250 indexed scientific articles, more than 50 book chapters, and is the editor of 15 books. Among others, he has been awarded the following distinctions: Encomienda Orden Alfonso X El Sabio; International HYPOCRATES Prize for Medical Research on Human Nutrition; Dr. Marañón Prize for the Best Scientific Work in the Food Field; or the Grand Prix de la Science de l'Alimentation (International Academy of Gastronomy).President of the Scientific Committee of the Health and Mediterranean Diet Agency (ASDM , Member of the Board and Scientific Council IMDEA-Food (Comunidad de Madrid), and of the Nutrition Committee of the Spanish Heart Foundation .
Affiliations
-Professor of Nutrition and Food Science
-Director, CEU Institute for Food and Society
-Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, Madrid, Spain.
-Director, CEU Institute for Food and Society
-Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, CEU Universities, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract
Importance and challenges of social aspects related to the healthy Mediterranean lifestyle
Importance and challenges of social aspects related to the healthy Mediterranean lifestyle
The diet of every society, until relatively recently, was based on inherited dietary patterns that were passed down from generation to generation, which is what we know as dietary and culinary traditions, food habits. With the important changes that have taken place in our society, and although in general they should be considered as very positive, there has been a certain rupture in the teaching and traditions in the field of food, in short, of our Mediterranean heritage, in its broadest expression. This has led to a state of nutritional and gastronomic transition, in many occasions associated with disorientation, with a lack of guidelines on which to base the food decision.
There is a growing body of recent evidence linking different social aspects of food (shopping location, culinary skills, sociability, but also sustainability and diet decision-making) with healthier dietary choices and better adherence to nutritional guidelines. In fact, the most recent food pyramids, such as the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid include these items as the first step to achieve a better and healthy diet. Moreover, there is no doubt that it is not only what one eats that matters, but also how and even with whom, the social aspects of eating. Trends are to a large extent are making us, almost, new cavemen, especially the younger ones. Furthermore, the whole process from shopping to the fact of eating, we often do it almost without communicating... what we could call "silent eating" which is certainly far from the model of eating and socialising in our Mediterranean way of life. And we also know that nutritionally, when food is not shared, the quality of the diet worsens, and even more worryingly, one is less happy.
Therefore, the main objective of the presentation is to understand the impact of lifestyles through their social and economic determinants on purchasing, cooking and consumption habits, as well as the knowledge and perception of food sustainability according to the different representative studies that we have been carrying out in the Spanish adult population in recent years.
The diet of every society, until relatively recently, was based on inherited dietary patterns that were passed down from generation to generation, which is what we know as dietary and culinary traditions, food habits. With the important changes that have taken place in our society, and although in general they should be considered as very positive, there has been a certain rupture in the teaching and traditions in the field of food, in short, of our Mediterranean heritage, in its broadest expression. This has led to a state of nutritional and gastronomic transition, in many occasions associated with disorientation, with a lack of guidelines on which to base the food decision.
There is a growing body of recent evidence linking different social aspects of food (shopping location, culinary skills, sociability, but also sustainability and diet decision-making) with healthier dietary choices and better adherence to nutritional guidelines. In fact, the most recent food pyramids, such as the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid include these items as the first step to achieve a better and healthy diet. Moreover, there is no doubt that it is not only what one eats that matters, but also how and even with whom, the social aspects of eating. Trends are to a large extent are making us, almost, new cavemen, especially the younger ones. Furthermore, the whole process from shopping to the fact of eating, we often do it almost without communicating... what we could call "silent eating" which is certainly far from the model of eating and socialising in our Mediterranean way of life. And we also know that nutritionally, when food is not shared, the quality of the diet worsens, and even more worryingly, one is less happy.
Therefore, the main objective of the presentation is to understand the impact of lifestyles through their social and economic determinants on purchasing, cooking and consumption habits, as well as the knowledge and perception of food sustainability according to the different representative studies that we have been carrying out in the Spanish adult population in recent years.