Abstract
Background & aims
A Mediterranean-like dietary pattern has been shown to be inversely associated with
many diseases, but its role in early obesity prevention is not clear. We aimed to
determine if this pattern is common among European children and whether it is associated
with overweight and obesity.
Methods and results
The IDEFICS study recruited 16,220 children aged 2–9 years from study centers in eight
European countries. Weight, height, waist circumference, and skinfolds were measured
at baseline and in 9114 children of the original cohort after two years. Diet was
evaluated by a parental questionnaire reporting children's usual consumption of 43
food items. Adherence to a Mediterranean-like diet was calculated by a food frequency-based
Mediterranean Diet Score (fMDS).
The highest fMDS levels were observed in Sweden, the lowest in Cyprus. High scores
were inversely associated with overweight including obesity (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.77;
0.94) and percent fat mass (β = −0.22, 95% CI: −0.43; −0.01) independently of age, sex, socioeconomic status, study
center and physical activity. High fMDS at baseline protected against increases in
BMI (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.78; 0.98), waist circumference (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.77;
0.98) and waist-to-height ratio (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.78; 0.99) with a similar trend
observed for percent fat mass (p = 0.06).
Conclusions
Although a Mediterranean dietary pattern is inversely associated with childhood obesity,
it is not common in children living in the Mediterranean region and should therefore
be advocated as part of EU obesity prevention strategies.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
fMDS (frequency-based Mediterranean Diet Score), OR (Odds ratio), BMI (Body Mass Index)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 19, 2013
Accepted:
April 27,
2013
Received in revised form:
April 17,
2013
Received:
October 26,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
