If your young child has a family history of obesity, you might wonder what you can do to help them build healthy habits. A new study tested whether a Mediterranean lifestyle—focusing on diet and physical activity—could make a difference for preschoolers at risk. The trial followed 206 children in Spain, aged 3 to 6, who had at least one parent with overweight or obesity. One group received fish, olive oil, nutrition education, and twice-weekly physical activity sessions for a year. The other group got general health advice not related to diet or exercise. The results showed a clear difference between boys and girls. For the girls who followed the Mediterranean lifestyle, their body mass index (BMI) and a measure of body fat improved compared to girls in the control group. These positive changes were not seen in the boys. The study did not find significant differences in other heart health markers, like blood pressure or cholesterol, for either group. The findings suggest that this type of healthy lifestyle intervention might be particularly beneficial for young girls at risk of obesity, but more research is needed to understand why the effects differed by sex.
Could a Mediterranean lifestyle help preschool girls at risk of obesity? A new study suggests it might.
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What this means for you:
A Mediterranean lifestyle improved body composition for preschool girls at risk of obesity, but not for boys in the same study. What this means for you:
A Mediterranean lifestyle improved body composition for preschool girls at risk of obesity, but not for boys in the same study. View Original Abstract ↓
UNLABELLED: This study aimed to determine whether a Mediterranean lifestyle intervention, including diet and physical activity (PA), influences body composition and cardiovascular risk factors in preschoolers at risk of obesity due to family history. A parallel RCT was conducted in three Spanish cities, enrolling 206 children aged 3.0-6.9 years with normal weight or overweight and at least one parent with overweight or obesity. Participants were recruited from health centers, hospitals, and schools, and randomly assigned to either a Mediterranean lifestyle intervention or a control group. The intervention included provision of fish and olive oil, monthly nutrition education, and twice-weekly PA sessions, while the control group received general child health advice unrelated to diet or exercise. After 12 months, 170 children completed the study (17.5% dropout). Outcomes included BMI, fat mass index (FMI), and respective z-scores (primary), as well as waist-to-height ratio, blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose, and insulin (secondary). At baseline, no significant differences were observed between groups. Per-protocol analysis showed significant differences in BMI and FMI (kg/m and z-score) between the intervention and control groups among girls, but not among boys. Intention-to-treat analysis confirmed these findings in girls, showing significant changes in BMI (- 0.68 kg/m) and BMI z-score (- 0.34) compared with the control group. In both per-protocol and intention-to-treat analyses, no significant between-group differences were observed in changes in cardiovascular risk factors.
CONCLUSION: A Mediterranean lifestyle intervention may benefit body composition changes in preschool girls at risk of obesity; larger studies are needed to confirm these sex-specific results.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04597281. Date of register: 28-09-2020. https://www.
CLINICALTRIALS: gov/study/NCT04597281?id=NCT04597281&rank=1 What is Known: • Mediterranean diet-based interventions have shown benefits in reducing BMI and obesity in children and adolescents. While many studies focus primarily on BMI, fewer have reported detailed body composition measures or explored potential sex-specific effects.
WHAT IS NEW: • This is the first randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness and efficacy of a Mediterranean lifestyle prevention intervention-including diet and PA-in preschool children at risk of obesity. Including FMI and the FMI z-score enables more specific characterization of adiposity-related changes, which complement BMI-based outcomes.