Meta-analysis of data from randomized clinical trials shows that the Mediterranean diet is good for children and teenagers

A team of medical researchers from the Universidad de Las Américas in Ecuador, the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra, Pamplona, ​​in Spain and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, in the US, has found evidence suggesting that children and teens gain health benefits similar to those of adults from eating the Mediterranean diet.

For their paper published in JAMA Open Networkthe group analyzed data from nine randomized controlled clinical trials involving the study of diet in children.

Previous evidence has shown that people who switch from a traditional Western diet to the Mediterranean diet typically experience weight loss, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and a reduction in blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol.

For this new study, the research team wondered whether children and teens would see the same benefits. They conducted a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trial data from studies that focused on the impact of eating habits in children and teens.

The data came from nine clinical studies involving 577 children with an average age of 11 years. About 60% of the volunteers were girls. Six of the studies looked at the dietary habits of overweight children and one study involved children who had been diagnosed as prediabetic.

The other two studies involved children who were not overweight or diabetic, and therefore served as a control group for this new study. All children in all nine studies were asked to follow a Mediterranean diet for a certain period of time.

The research team found that the children who stuck to the Mediterranean diet for at least eight weeks saw improvements in blood pressure, triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels and also experienced a rise in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

However, the team was surprised to find that the diet did not lead to improvements in insulin resistance or glucose metabolism. The researchers suggest that it may take longer for such changes to be visible with the diet. They conclude that the Mediterranean diet would be a healthy choice for most children and teenagers.

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