Study Finds Low Mediterranean Diet Adherence Among Women in Italian Breast Screening Programme

Most women screened through an Italian mobile breast cancer prevention programme show only low to moderate adherence to the Mediterranean diet, according to a study published in Frontiers in Public Health on 18 September 2026 by researchers at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome and the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli.

Nearly 7,500 women surveyed

The cross-sectional study drew on 7,492 women who took part in Italy’s Prevention Caravan programme, a national mobile screening unit, over the course of 2023. Participants, whose average age was just under 42, completed a 14-item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener questionnaire alongside their breast screening. The average score was 6.99 out of a possible higher range, with 61.6% of women classed as having low adherence, 37.2% good adherence and just over 1% excellent adherence.

Adherence was higher among older, postmenopausal women and those living in Southern Italy, a region generally associated with more traditional dietary patterns, while a family history of benign breast lesions was associated with lower adherence. Among a smaller follow-up group of 743 women, just over 1% were found to have malignant lesions.

A screening tool with wider reach

Because the Prevention Caravan travels to reach women who might not otherwise access screening, including in rural and underserved areas, the researchers were able to survey a broader cross-section of the population than a hospital-based study typically would, giving the findings weight as a snapshot of everyday eating habits rather than a self-selecting health-conscious group.

Why It Matters

The Mediterranean diet is one of the most extensively studied eating patterns for its associations with lower rates of cardiovascular disease, and a growing body of research links it to lower cancer risk as well. Finding that most women in the birthplace of the diet itself do not closely follow it underscores a gap between a dietary pattern’s reputation and how people actually eat, information public health campaigns can use to target advice more precisely by age group and region.