Adherence to Mediterranean diet of children living in small Southern Italian villages

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted in the primary schools of five small villages of Salento Peninsula to evaluate the adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MD) of 282 6-8-years old children in relation to lifestyles and socio-economic factors. The parents of children completed a self-administered questionnaire to evaluate the prevalence of personal, behavioural and socio-economic factors of their sons. Children’s anthropometric measurements were also taken. The adherence to the MD was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for Children and Adolescents (KIDMED). The chi-square test was used to detect any differences among groups of children. Overall, 27.0% of children showed low adherence to the MD (KIDMED ≤3), 59.6% medium adherence (KIDMED 4–7) and 13.5% high adherence (KIDMED ≥8). The adherence to the MD was associated with the educational level (whether graduated or not) of the mother and the occupational status (whether employed or not) of both parents.

Keywords:

• Mediterranean diet
• food habits
• lifestyles
• children
• KIDMED

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the ‘‘Consorzio Universitario Interprovinciale Salentino’’ (CUIS) that funded the study and the Municipalities of Cursi, Giurdignano, Muro Leccese, Otranto and Uggiano la Chiesa for their support in the research.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by a grant from “Consorzio Universitario Interprovinciale Salentino” (CUIS), as part of the local project “Early Biological Effect of Environmental Pollution in the Population of the Union of Municipalities of Terre d'Oriente” (EFFE.BI.P.).