Mediterranean diet adherence among women attending mobile breast cancer prevention programme: results of a cross-sectional study in Italy

Background The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) has been linked to lower breast cancer incidence through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. This study evaluated adherence to the MedDiet among women undergoing mammographic screening provided by mobile units in Italy and explored its association with breast cancer risk factors. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was carried out between January and December 2023 as part of the mobile “Prevention Caravan programme.” Eligible participants included women aged 18 years or older who underwent breast ultrasound or mammography and completed the 14-item “Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS).” Descriptive analyses and differences across groups defined by known breast cancer risk factors, stratified by MedDiet adherence levels, were performed, and a multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to further explore these patterns. Results A total of 7,492 women were included, most of whom were ≤45 years of age (69%) and from Central Italy (59%). The mean MEDAS score was 7.0 (SD 1.6), with 62% categorized as having low adherence to the MedDiet. Only 1.21% of participants achieved an excellent level of adherence to the MedDiet. MEDAS score increased with increasing age ( p  = 0.036), women aged 46–74 years and postmenopausal women were also overrepresented among those with excellent adherence (37 and 27% of the excellent-adherence group, respectively; p  = 0.022 and p  p   Conclusion Mobile programmes like the “Prevention Caravan programme” may help promote healthy lifestyles and improve access to prevention services. Future studies should confirm these results in larger, more diverse populations and explore associations with lesion type and severity.