The adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) of 1740 Italian 8-9-year-olds was evaluated using the KIDMED index and a descriptive analysis of it by socio-demographic and lifestyle factors was performed. Only 5.0% of the children resulted "high" adherers of MD (62.2% "average" and 32.8% "poor"). This scarce adherence was due to a low consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, dairy products and a high intake of commercially baked goods for breakfast and sweets. Hindrances to fruit, vegetables and pulses consumption were reported for one-third of the sample. The adherence rates did not differ significantly with BMI and gender. Adherence improved with: having lunch at school; liking lunch at school; breakfast with family; no free access to food; availability of fruit and pulses; liking vegetables; higher maternal education; lower child screen time; population size of place of residence. The results show it is important to improve family food habits and dietary knowledge.
The aim of this study is to define a healthy and sustainable diet model with low GHGE, fulfilling dietary requirements, and considering current Italian food consumption patterns.Design: A duly designed database was developed, linking food nutritional composition and GHGE based on 921 food items consumed in Italy according to the last national food consumption survey (INRAN-SCAI 2005-2006. Linear programming was used to develop new diet plans separately for males and females, aged 18-60 years (n = 2,098 subjects), in order to minimize GHGE. The program is based on dietary goals and acceptability constraints as well as on 13 nutrient requirement constraints aiming to reach a healthy and acceptable diet for the Italian population.Results: Diet optimization resulted in a nutritionally adequate pattern minimizing GHGE values (4.0 vs. 1.9 kg CO 2 e/day for males and 3.2 vs. 1.6 kg CO 2 e/day for females). In both sexes, the nutrient intake of the optimized diet was at the established lower bound for cholesterol and calcium and at the established upper bound for free sugar and fiber. In males, intake of zinc was at the established lower bound whereas iron was at the established upper bound. Consumption of red meat and fruit and vegetables was at the established lower and upper bound, respectively, in both males and females. Despite the decrease in meat consumption, especially red meat, in the optimized diet with respect to the observed diet, levels of iron intake in females increased by 10% (10.3 vs. 11.3 mg/day) but remained below the adequate intake established in Italian national DRIs.Conclusions: An attainable healthy dietary pattern was developed that would lead to the reduction of GHGE by 48% for males and by 50% for females with respect to current food consumption in the Italian adult population. Health-promoting dietary patterns can substantially contribute to achieve related Sustainable Development Goals.
School is considered a privileged environment for health education and school feeding represents an opportunity for promoting sustainable foods to young generations. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that is possible to select, from existing school menus, recipes that combine healthy foods with low environmental impact. A national sample of Italian school menus was collected and a total number of 194 recipes were included on a database containing 70 first courses, 83 s courses, 39 side dishes, 1 portion of fruit, and 1 portion of bread. A mathematical model was conceived to combine nutritional adequacy and acceptability criteria while minimizing GHGs emissions. The result is a four-week menu characterized by large vegetable components that were used not only as side dishes but also as ingredients in the first and second courses. Legumes and pasta are often included, and white meat is selected instead of red meat. The findings presented in this paper demonstrated that it is possible to design environmental-friendly meals from existing school menus. The mathematical model developed in this work has the potentiality of being completely scalable, easily updatable, and widely utilizable in different settings either for design or monitoring purposes as well as for research data collection.
Purpose. To evaluate the relationship between overweight/obesity and dietary/lifestyle factors among Italian adolescents. Methods. On a total of 756 adolescents with mean age 12.4 ± 0.9, body mass index, food consumption, and time dedicated to after school physical activities and to TV viewing were determined. The data were analysed according to age, nutritional status, and gender. The analysis of variance and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to investigate the association between dietary/lifestyle factors and overweight/obesity. Results. The percentages of overweight and obesity were, respectively, 28% and 9% among boys, 24% and 7% among girls. The overweight/obesity condition in both genders was associated with parental overweight/obesity (P < .001 for mother), less time devoted to physical activity (P < .001 for boys and P < .02 for girls) and being on a diet (P < .001). Direct associations were also observed between BMI and skipping breakfast and the lower number of meals a day (boys only). Conclusions. This pilot study reveals some important dietary and lifestyle behaviour trends among adolescents that assist with identification of specific preventive health actions.
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