Table 1: Demographic and health characteristics of respondents by adherence to a modified Mediterranean style diet.

Adherence to a Mediterranean Style Diet
Characteristic Total Low Intermediate High
n 295 73 195 27
Age in years
Mean (SD)
47.7 (15.4) 43.4 (14.0) 49.1 (15.5) 49.6
(15.9)
Income (NZ$)
Median (SD)
75,000 (100,342) 60,000 (45,963) 80,000 (117,279) 90,000 (57,420)
Ethnicity % (n)
NZ European 61.0 (180) 20.6 (37) 69.4 (125) 10.0 (18)
Maori/PI 6.8 (20) 25.0 (5) 70.0 (14) 5.0 (1)
Asian 17.3 (51) 31.4 (16) 58.8 (30) 9.8 (5)
Other European 8.1 (24) 33.3 (8) 62.5 (15) 4.2 (1)
Other 6.8 (20) 35.0 (7) 55.0 (11) 10.0 (2)
Highest level of education achieved % (n)
Tertiary 77.3 (228) 22.8 (52) 67.5 (154) 9.6 (22)
Other 22.7 (67) 31.3 (21) 61.2 (41) 7.5 (5)
Smoking status % (n)
Non-smoker 72.5 (214) 20.6 (44) 70.1 (150) 9.3 (20)
Past-smoker 22.0 (65) 29.2 (19) 63.1 (41) 7.7 (5)
Current smoker 5.1 (15) 60.0 (9) 26.7 (4) 13.3 (2)
Non-response 0.3 (1) 0.3 (1) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)
Medical conditions % (n)
Any condition 37.3 (110) 20.0 (22) 73.6 (81) 6.4 (7)
High cholesterol 17.3 (51) 17.6 (9) 76.5 (39) 5.9 (3)
CVD 6.8 (20) 15.0 (3) 85.0 (17) 0.0 (0)
HTN 10.5 (31) 19.4 (6) 71.0 (22) 9.7 (3)
Cancer 5.4 (16) 12.5 (2) 75.0 (12) 12.5 (2)
T2D 3.7 (11) 18.2 (2) 63.6 (7) 18.2 (2)
Arthritis 3.7 (11) 0.0 (0) 72.7 (8) 27.3 (3)
Lung disorder 4.1 (12) 8.3 (1) 91.7 (11) 0.0 (0)
GI disorder 1.7 (5) 40.0 (2) 20.0 (1) 40.0 (0)
Mental disorder 1.0 (3) 33.3 (1) 66.7 (2) 0.0 (0)
Other 3.1 (9) 33.3 (3) 66.7 (6) 0.0 (0)

Low, intermediate and high adherence scores were classified as 0-5, 6-9 and 11-14 respectively. Abbreviations: n=number; NZ=New Zealand; PI=Pacific Islander; CVD=Cardiovascular Disease; HTN=Hypertension; T2D=Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; GI=Gastro-Intestinal.