PurposeThe study aims to have adults discuss experiences, practices needs and feelings related to health management, diet and food security.Design/methodology/approachA total of 22 immigrants were recruited from the Open School of Immigrants in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, to participate in focus group discussions. The discussions were audio recorded and thematically analyzed. Three major themes were developed: pathways to health care, nutrition management and experiences related to food shortages.FindingsMost of the participants identified internet as the most commonly used way to obtain health advice; they also stated that unexpected ill-health is usually accompanied by feelings of fear, anxiety and loneliness. Immigrants, who had visited a public hospital in Greece, identified the language barrier as the most challenging issue, followed by the long waiting lists. Fear and anxiety of hospital visits was an important factor in their decision to vaccinate against COVID-19. Lack of time, high cost of healthy food and lack of knowledge were the most common obstacles to a healthy diet. One in two immigrants reported that they have faced food insecurity issues in the past. Stress, psychological distress and irritation were reported, due to food shortages, especially during the first few years of arriving in Greece. The exclusion of some foods, reduced portion sizes and buying cheaper foods were among the coping strategies to address food shortages.Originality/valueThe study offers an insight into immigrant's experiences, practices and feelings about managing health issues and could be useful for health-care practitioners, researchers and policymakers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate the Greek version of the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS). Design/methodology/approach The MEDAS was translated to the Greek language forward and backward, twice and subsequently was administered to 50 healthy adult participants living in Attica, Greece. The participants had to complete the tool twice, within a period of 15 days. Participants also completed the well-recognized Mediterranean Diet Score (MedDietScore), for comparison purposes with the tested tool. Socioeconomic and anthropometric characteristics were also assessed. Findings There was a moderate association between the Greek MEDAS (MEDAS-Gr) and the MedDietScore [(Pearson r = 0.50, p < 0.001; Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC)=0.46, p = 0.015)]. The concordance between these two questionnaires varied between the items (Intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.62 for fruit at the highest and −0.09 for alcohol consumption). The Cronbach’s a coefficient of reliability for the Greek MEDAS was good (a = 0.62). The two administrations of the MEDAS-Gr produced similar mean total scores (7.6 vs 7.9, p = 0.090), which were correlated (r = 0.71, p < 0.001; ICC = 0.85, p < 0.001) and agreed substantially [k statistic (k)=0.72, 95% CI 0.54–0.89, p < 0.001)]. Originality/value The MEDAS-Gr seems to be a valid tool for assessing adherence to the Mediterranean diet in the Greek population.

Purpose The paper aims to investigate food security research in Southern Europe and selected Eastern Mediterranean countries. Design/methodology/approach An electronic literature search was conducted using Medline/PubMed and Scopus, to identify articles and reviews that were published in the English language, between January 2014 and December 2019. Thirty-three publications met the criteria for review. Findings Depending on the population sample and the measurement tool, reported food insecurity differed significantly between and within countries. In Portugal, food insecurity ranged from 11 to 70%; in France, from 6.3 to 77.7%; and in Greece, from 17.3 to 82%. Research limitations/implications Research investigating food insecurity issues and its true prevalence across southern European and Eastern Mediterranean countries are relatively limited. Originality/value Food insecurity levels in the above countries vary significantly, and the different methodologies often used render the results difficult to compare.

Purpose The paper aims to investigate food security research in Southern Europe and selected Eastern Mediterranean countries. Design/methodology/approach An electronic literature search was conducted using Medline/PubMed and Scopus, to identify articles and reviews that were published in the English language, between January 2014 and December 2019. Thirty-three publications met the criteria for review. Findings Depending on the population sample and the measurement tool, reported food insecurity differed significantly between and within countries. In Portugal, food insecurity ranged from 11 to 70%; in France, from 6.3 to 77.7%; and in Greece, from 17.3 to 82%. Research limitations/implications Research investigating food insecurity issues and its true prevalence across southern European and Eastern Mediterranean countries are relatively limited. Originality/value Food insecurity levels in the above countries vary significantly, and the different methodologies often used render the results difficult to compare.

The main issue of the present of the present text is the Greek language syntactic structures teaching in the Greek secondary education. Specifically, through studying, critical analysis and evaluation of the syntactic section of the grammar course - book taught in the Greek high schools, the problematic points and the disadvantages of the syntactic structures description and analysis are shown and commented. The problematic issues of the content of the course – books syntactical unit concern the structural description of the phrases, clauses and sentences of the Greek language, and of the syntactic, semantic / communicative and textual functions these structures are realizing. In other words, in the present paper, the teaching methodology of the structural pattern and the composition of the phrasal and clausal categories of the standard Greek language through the reference course – book is examined and suggestions for syntax teaching improvement and effective language teaching are given. These suggestions are resting on the constituent structure model of grammar and the theory of communicative grammar.