Evaluation of Mediterranean diet quality and hedonistic eating status in individuals who exercise regularly

Physical activity, which is one of the basic functions of individuals, is defined as body movement that is produced through skeletal muscles and provides more energy expenditure than the basal resting rate. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of more than twenty chronic diseases, including Type II diabetes, depression, obesity, and coronary heart disease. The nutrition of individuals who exercise regularly varies according to the type, intensity and intensity of the exercise. The aim of this study is to determine the adherence of individuals who exercise regularly to the Mediterranean diet and to examine the relationship between these individuals' hedonistic eating behaviors.This study included 200 individuals who exercised for 150-180 minutes a week and continued this exercise for 3 months, participating in individuals exercising in pilates studio institutions between June and September 2023 using the online survey method. After the demographic questions in the first part of the questionnaire, MEDAS, Nutritional Power Scale (BGS-TR) was applied to the participants and 24-hour retrospective food consumption records were taken. As a result of our study, all subgroups of the nutritional power scale were found to be more than the cut-off point of 2.5. There was no difference between the sexes in the scale of hedonistic eating behavior and adherence to the Mediterranean diet. When the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet increased, it was observed that these sub-factors decreased at a statistically significant level in terms of food availability, food availability and total score, which are sub-factors of hedonistic eating. When the level of physical activity increased, a statistically positive correlation was observed in the total score of the Mediterranean diet adherence scale. In addition, since we included individuals who exercised regularly, overweight and obese individuals who participated showed hedonistic eating behavior at a similar rate to other BMI values. When the literature is reviewed, studies on the evaluation of the relationship between regular exercisers' adherence to the Mediterranean diet and hedonistic eating behaviors are limited. It is thought that our current study will shed light on the studies to be carried out in the future.