Comparative Analysis of Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Among Girls and Adolescents Who Perform Rhythmic Gymnastics

Abstract

Introduction: Eating habits are one of the underlying aspects in rhythmic gymnastics as a sport with an aesthetic component. Objective: To evaluate adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) in girls and adolescents who perform rhythmic gymnastics, and the relationship of this adherence with Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference. Methods: A prospective, descriptive comparative cross-sectional study with the participation of 221 gymnasts aged between 7 and 17 years. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was analyzed using the KIDMED test. The waist circumference, height and weight of each gymnast were measured and the BMI calculated. Results: 41.63%, 52.94% and 5.43% of the total sample exhibited high, medium and low adherence, respectively, to the Mediterranean diet. The Mann-Whitney U test indicated significant differences in the rate of adherence to the Mediterranean diet between the two age groups, U = 5007.0, p = .016, r = .162. The adolescent gymnasts had greater adherence than the younger gymnasts. The total sample showed a positive correlation of the rate of adherence with weight (Rho = .143, p = .034), BMI (Rho = .152, p = .024) and waist circumference (Rho = .180, p = .007). Conclusions: The eating habits of adolescent gymnasts with regard to the Mediterranean diet are healthier than those of the younger gymnasts. All participants had normal BMI values. The KIDMED values of the total sample were related to weight and BMI. The high percentages of younger gymnasts with mean adherence to the MD evidenced the need to approximate their eating habits with Mediterranean standards. Level of evidence II; Comparative diagnostic study.

Level of Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Weight Status among Adolescent Female Gymnasts: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…This result should be interpreted very carefully, as it may lead to the conclusion that better adherence to MD is linked to greater risk of being underweight, which is a serious concern for the sport of gymnastics. In our study, the mean BMI of the athletes was greater than the BMIs that were observed in other studies of adolescent gymnasts [ 29 , 53 , 64 , 76 , 77 , 78 ] and the percentage of underweight athletes was relatively small; this may affect the results of the analysis. Nevertheless, we believe that the association between MD adherence and BMI in non-normoweight athletes should be further examined in future studies.…”

“…This was present in the total sample, as well as in different subgroups according to weight status, i.e., in the group of normoweight athletes, in the group of underweight and normoweight athletes combined, and in the group of normoweight and overweight athletes combined. The relationship between a greater degree of adherence to the MD and achieving normoweight has been verified by previous research in the Greek adolescent population [ 8 , 48 , 50 ], as well as by a Spanish study on adolescent rhythmic gymnasts [ 53 ]. On the other hand, a recent study conducted in Spain using adolescent athletes from various sports failed to correlate an adherence to the MD and the anthropometric characteristics of participants (BMI, fat mass, muscle mass) [ 52 ].…”

“…When compared to studies conducted in athletes, Zorzou [ 74 ] reported a lower degree of optimal adherence to the MD among Greek adolescent female athletes (18.4%), whereas Philippou [ 75 ] observed an optimal adherence to the MD among 21% of adolescent swimmers. On the other hand, a recent study in Spain reported that 41.63% of adolescent rhythmic gymnasts exhibited a high level of adherence to the MD [ 53 ].…”

“…Adherence to the MD has also been associated with improved health outcomes in children and adolescents, especially with regard to their weight status, with a greater adherence being associated with a lower prevalence of overweight and obesity [ 8 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 ]. A limited number of studies have investigated the association between MD adherence and the anthropometric characteristics of adolescent athletes, and their results are ambiguous [ 52 , 53 ].…”

Adherence to Mediterranean diet in athletes: a narrative review

“…After the removal of duplicates and the screening process, 61 full text articles were assessed for eligibility. At the end of the selection, 16 studies were included in the analysis [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. Figure 1 shows the phases of the selection procedure.…”