Mediterranean Diet and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Context: Childhood and adolescence are periods of critical importance in the development of mental health disorders. The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been linked to multiple positive health outcomes, including reduced incidence of mental health disorders and fewer psychiatric symptoms.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between adherence to an MD and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted of original research that explored the relationship between psychiatric symptoms or disorders and adherence to an MD. The literature search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, MEDES, Dialnet, and Latindex from inception to November 2022, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the quality of studies.

Results: A total of 13 studies (6 cross-sectional, 4 case-control, 2 randomized clinical trials, and 1 longitudinal cohort) out of 450 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 3058 children or adolescents with a mean age range from 8.6 to 16.2 years were included. Among the reviewed studies, 5 (71.42%) of those looking at attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 4 (80%) examining depression, and 2 (50%) assessing anxiety found a significant protective association. Seven articles (53.84%) were found to be of high quality and 6 (46.15%) of moderate quality.

Conclusion: Adherence to an MD could be a protective factor for mental health in child and adolescent populations. This suggests that promoting an MD could help prevent the onset of clinical psychiatric symptoms, reduce symptom severity, and improve prognosis in young patients.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42021276316.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; adolescent; child; mental health; psychiatry.