Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 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.

PubMed Disclaimer

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).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allen M.S., Robson D.A., Vella S.A., Laborde S. Extraversion development in childhood, adolescence and adulthood: Testing the role of sport participation in three nationally-representative samples. J. Sports Sci. 2021;39:2258–2265. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2021.1930672. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brylka A., Wolke D., Ludyga S., Bilgin A., Spiegler J., Trower H., Gkiouleka A., Gerber M., Brand S., Grob A., et al. Physical activity, mental health, and well-being in very pre-term and term born adolescents: An individual participant data meta-analysis of two accelerometry studies. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2021;18:1735. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041735. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Branje S., de Moor E.L., Spitzer J., Becht A.I. Dynamics of identity development in adolescence: A decade in review. J. Res. Adolesc. 2021;31:908–927. doi: 10.1111/jora.12678. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mollborn S., Lawrence E.M., Saint-Onge J.M. Contributions and challenges in health lifestyles research. J. Health Soc. Behav. 2021;62:388–403. doi: 10.1177/0022146521997813. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Morelli C., Avolio E., Galluccio A., Caparello G., Manes E., Ferraro S., Caruso A., De Rose D., Barone I., Adornetto C., et al. Nutrition education program and physical activity improve the adherence to the Mediterranean diet: Impact on inflammatory biomarker levels in healthy adolescents from the DIMENU longitudinal study. Front. Nutr. 2021;8:685247. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.685247. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources