Mediterranean Diet in Obese Children with Asthma: A Single-Arm Pilot Study

Obesity-related asthma is characterized by metabolic dysfunction and systemic inflammation.

This study evaluated whether an 8-week personalized Mediterranean diet intervention was associated with clinical, anthropometric, dietary, metabolic, inflammatory, and oxidative stress-related changes in obese children with asthma.

This single-arm exploratory pilot study included 37 obese asthmatic children aged 6-15 years who completed an 8-week personalized Mediterranean diet intervention. Anthropometry, pulmonary function, asthma control, quality of life, dietary indices, metabolic markers, inflammatory/adipokine parameters, and oxidative stress biomarkers were assessed before and after the intervention.

BMI Z-score, waist circumference, and body fat percentage decreased significantly in both sexes. ACT scores increased in both sexes, while PAQLQ scores increased significantly only in boys. Changes in C-DII, KIDMED score, and BMI Z-score, as well as sex, were associated with changes in quality of life in exploratory regression analysis. In boys, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HOMA-IR, IL-1β, and leptin decreased significantly. In girls, insulin, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, TOS, and OSI decreased significantly, whereas IL-1β increased.

In this single-arm pilot study, an 8-week personalized Mediterranean diet intervention was associated with favorable changes in quality of life, body composition, and selected metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in obese children with asthma. Larger randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.