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. 2019 Dec 27;12(1):77.
doi: 10.3390/nu12010077.

Association between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Physical Fitness with Body Composition Parameters in 1717 European Adolescents: The AdolesHealth Study

Pablo Galan-Lopez  1 , Antonio J Sanchez-Oliver  2 , Maret Pihu  3 , Thórdís Gísladóttír  4 , Raúl Domínguez  5 , Francis Ries  1
Affiliations

Association between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Physical Fitness with Body Composition Parameters in 1717 European Adolescents: The AdolesHealth Study

Pablo Galan-Lopez et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Obesity, low levels of physical fitness, and unhealthy eating patterns are responsible for part of the health problems of adolescents today. The current study aimed at examining the association between the adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), through each answer to the items of the Adherence to the MD Questionnaire (KIDMED), and physical fitness with body composition parameters (body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat, and waist circumference) in 1717 European adolescents (N = 900 boys, N = 817 girls). Data of body composition, physical fitness results, and the answers to KIDMED were analyzed by the Student's t-test. Additionally, the effect size (ES) was calculated and a Chi-square test analyzed the proportion of participants with and without over waist circumference, overfat, and overweight in each KIDMED question. The relative risk of suffering over waist circumference, overfat and overweight in relation to the responses was calculated by Odd-Ratio. Adherence to the MD did not influence the condition of over waist circumference, overfat and overweight, although certain dietary habits were identified as risk factors for their development. Over waist circumference, overfat, and overweight boys and girls presented higher levels of body mass, waist circumference, body fat percentage, and BMI (p < 0.001; ES = 1.73-3.38), as well as lower levels of all the parameters of the physical fitness analyzed (p < 0.001; ES = 0.45-1.08), except the handgrip test. A direct relationship between fitness and over waist circumference, overfat, and overweight was found.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; adolescents; dietary patterns; physical fitness; risk and protective factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total percentage of boys and girls (Owaist, Ofat, and Oweight). * Statistical difference between boys and girls with Ofat (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Body composition parameters according to Owaist, Ofat, and Oweight groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Physical fitness values in over and non-over boys and girls according body composition parameters. * Statistical difference between groups (p < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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