A quantitative assessment of barriers to adopting the sustainable Mediterranean diet

High-meat consumption negatively impacts our planet and our health, especially in high-income countries where this eating pattern is the norm. The plant-rich Mediterranean diet reduces these adverse environmental and human health effects, and omnivore eaters are more likely to adopt it than a meat-exclusionary diet. Knowing the barriers to Mediterranean diet adoption is critical to designing effective interventions to promote behaviour change. Therefore, using the capability-opportunity-motivation (COM-B) behaviour change model as an organising framework, this study identified key barriers that predicted the likelihood of Mediterranean diet adoption in an Australian sample (N = 443). In terms of existing diet, omnivores in the sample, on average, consumed meat more often than their meat-reducing counterparts, while also consuming legumes less often and reporting less familiarity with the Mediterranean diet. In terms of barriers to adopting the Mediterranean diet in the future, exploratory factor analysis revealed four main factors covering all three components of the COM-B model: Meat Dependence, Lack of Time and Knowledge, Household Dietary Preferences, and Food Allergies and Clean Eating. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that Mediterranean Diet Familiarity, the four factors from the factor analysis, and an additional standalone question, Not Having to Cook for Others, together explained 44% of the variability in adopting the Mediterranean diet. Mediterranean Diet Familiarity accounted for 21.2% of the unique variance in step one. These findings signify key components (e.g., diet familiarity and convenience) to consider when designing interventions focused on shifting people to a Mediterranean diet in a high-income, high-meat consuming country such as Australia.