Diet quality and well-being in children and adolescents: the UP&DOWN longitudinal study

Abstract

The present study examined the association between high-quality diet (using the Mediterranean diet (MD) as an example) and well-being cross-sectionally and prospectively in Spanish children and adolescents. Participants included 533 children and 987 adolescents at baseline and 527 children and 798 adolescents at 2-year follow-up, included in the UP&DOWN study (follow-up in schoolchildren and adolescents with and without Down’s syndrome). The present study excluded participants with Down’s syndrome. Adherence to an MD was assessed using the KIDMED index. Well-being was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and the KIDSCREEN-10 questionnaire. Associations between MD adherence and well-being were assessed using multi-level, mixed-effects linear regression. At baseline, MD adherence was positively related to health-related quality of life in secondary school girls and boys (β=0·41, se 0·10, P<0·001; β=0·46, se 0·10, P<0·001, respectively) and to positive affect in secondary school girls and boys (β=0·16, se 0·05, P=0·006; β=0·20, se 0·05, P<0·001, respectively) and in primary school boys (β=0·20, se 0·08, P=0·019). At 2-year follow-up, MD adherence was negatively related to negative affect in secondary school adolescent girls and boys (β=–0·15, se 0·07, P=0·047; β=–0·16, se 0·06, P=0·019, respectively), and MD adherence was associated with higher positive affect scores in secondary school girls (β=0·30, se 0·06, P<0·001) and in primary school boys (β=0·20, se 0·09, P=0·023). However, MD adherence at baseline did not predict well-being indicators at 2-year follow-up. In conclusion, higher MD adherence was found to behave as a protective factor for positive well-being in cross-sectional analysis.

The social and psychological health of children is associated with Mediterranean diet adherence items, cardiorespiratory fitness, and lifestyle

“…Likewise, a study that evaluated adherence to MD with HRQoL in Portuguese adolescents reported that adherence was positively associated with well-being (32). Moreover, a recent study carried out in Spanish schoolchildren concluded that adherence to MD was found to behave as a protective factor for positive well-being in a cross-sectional analysis (33). In this line, a study that evaluated the relationship between adherence to MD, HRQoL, and subjective happiness reported positive associations with adherence to MD, higher levels of subjective happiness, and better HRQoL in adolescents (13).…”

Impact of Vigorous-Intensity Physical Activity on Body Composition Parameters, Lipid Profile Markers, and Irisin Levels in Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…It is widely accepted that adherence to the MD pattern has been shown to be associated with a better health status, due to its protective effects against a wide range of chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, and several cancers [5,6,[37][38][39]. Recently, higher MD adherence was found to be positively correlated to well-being in a young population [40]. Thus, it is worth highlighting the importance of promoting the MD model, particularly during adolescence as a tool to achieve an overall healthy condition that improves life expectancy.…”

Association between Lifestyle Behaviors and Health-Related Quality of Life in a Sample of Brazilian Adolescents

“…Eating processed foods was related to lower HRQoL in the present study, whereas the unprocessed food score was not. The relationship between diet and HRQoL has been studied before, and a Mediterranean diet has been associated with better scores of HRQoL in adolescents [ 6 , 13 ]. In the present study, we adopted a data-driven approach to identify dietary patterns, which revealed two scores that reflected processed and unprocessed foods, and do not directly compare to adherence to the Mediterranean diet.…”

“…Additionally, recent reviews showed that physical activity [ 6 , 10 , 11 ] and screen time [ 12 ] have been positively and negatively related to HRQoL, respectively, and sports practice has shown to be even better for some of its dimensions [ 10 ]. Furthermore, a Mediterranean diet pattern has been related to increased HRQoL scores [ 6 , 13 ], and alcohol [ 14 , 15 , 16 ], tobacco [ 17 ], and illicit drug [ 15 , 16 ] use seem to be negatively related to HRQoL. Many of the lifestyle behaviors, when adopted in an unhealthy way, have responses that may negatively impact health in ways that compromise HRQoL.…”