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Mediterranean diet decreases adolescent waist circumference
Flora Bacopoulou1, Georgios Landis1, Anastasios Rentoumis1
1Center for Adolescent Medicine and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 'Aghia Sophia' Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece.
European Journal of Clinical Investigation
|April 14, 2017
Summary
A school-based intervention improved adolescent nutrition and reduced obesity. Increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) was linked to decreased waist circumference (WC), highlighting the intervention's potential against adolescent abdominal obesity.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
- Nutrition Science
Background:
- Adolescent obesity is a growing public health concern.
- Nutritional habits and abdominal obesity indices require targeted interventions.
- School-based programs offer a platform for health promotion in adolescents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a multicomponent-multilevel school-based educational intervention.
- To assess the intervention's impact on adolescent nutritional habits.
- To examine changes in abdominal obesity indices among adolescents.
Main Methods:
- A 6-month intervention involving nutrition education, physical activity, and body image awareness.
- Targeted approach involving adolescents, parents, teachers, and health staff.
- Dietary assessment using the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED), and measurements of blood pressure, BMI, waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR).
Main Results:
- Significant increase in mean KIDMED scores post-intervention.
- Significant reductions in overweight/obesity, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, WC, and WHtR.
- Adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) positively correlated with decreased WC.
Conclusions:
- Multicomponent-multilevel school-based interventions can improve adolescent dietary habits.
- Increased adherence to the MD is associated with reduced abdominal obesity in adolescents.
- These interventions show potential in combating adolescent abdominal obesity.
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