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. 2022 Jun 11;9(6):872.
doi: 10.3390/children9060872.

Mediterranean Diet Adherence, Body Mass Index and Emotional Intelligence in Primary Education Students-An Explanatory Model as a Function of Weekly Physical Activity

Eduardo Melguizo-Ibáñez  1 , Gabriel González-Valero  2 , Georgian Badicu  3 , Ana Filipa-Silva  4   5   6 , Filipe Manuel Clemente  4   5   7 , Hugo Sarmento  8 , Félix Zurita-Ortega  1 , José Luis Ubago-Jiménez  1
Affiliations

Mediterranean Diet Adherence, Body Mass Index and Emotional Intelligence in Primary Education Students-An Explanatory Model as a Function of Weekly Physical Activity

Eduardo Melguizo-Ibáñez et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Adolescence is a key developmental period from a health, physical and psychological perspective. In view of this, the present research aimed to establish the relationship between emotional intelligence, Mediterranean diet adherence, BMI and age. In order to address this aim, (a) an explanatory model is developed of emotional intelligence and its relationship with Mediterranean diet adherence, BMI and age, and (b) the proposed structural model is examined via multi-group analysis as a function of whether students engage in more than three hours of physical activity a week. To this end, a quantitative, non-experimental (ex post facto), comparative and cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 567 students (11.10 ± 1.24). The instruments used were an ad hoc questionnaire, the KIDMED questionnaire and the TMMS-24. Outcomes reveal that participants who engage in more than three hours of physical activity a week score more highly for emotional intelligence than those who do not meet this criterion. Furthermore, it was also observed that, whilst the majority of the sample was physically active, improvement was required with regards to Mediterranean diet adherence.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; body mass index; emotional intelligence; physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural equation model. Note: Emotional attention (EA); emotional clarity (EC); emotional repair (ER); body mass index (BMI); Mediterranean diet adherence (MDA); age (AGE).
Figure 2
Figure 2
SEM pertaining to the entire sample. Note: Emotional attention (EA); emotional clarity (EC); emotional repair (ER); body mass index (BMI); Mediterranean diet adherence (MDA); age (AGE).
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM pertaining to participants who engage in more than 3 h of PA a week. Note: Emotional attention (EA); emotional clarity (EC); emotional repair (ER); body mass index (BMI); Mediterranean diet adherence (MDA); age (AGE).
Figure 4
Figure 4
SEM pertaining to participants who do not engage in more than 3 h of PA a week. Note: Emotional attention (EA); emotional clarity (EC); emotional repair (ER); body mass index (BMI); Mediterranean diet adherence (MDA); age (AGE).
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