Mediterranean diet helps optimize cardiometabolic health in kids

Mediterranean diet (MedDiet)–based interventions appear to produce improvements in cardiometabolic parameters, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels, in children and adolescents, according to the results of a meta-analysis.

Researchers conducted a systematic review of randomized clinical trials (RCTs), in which the effects of MedDiet-based interventions on biomarkers of cardiometabolic health in the paediatric population were examined. Multiple online databases were searched for relevant RCTs. Cardiometabolic biomarkers included systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), glucose, insulin, and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

A total of nine RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. The mean study duration was 17 weeks, and the pooled population comprised 577 children (59.6 percent girls) with a mean age of 11 years.

Compared with control, the MedDiet-based interventions were associated with significant reductions in SBP (mean difference, −4.75 mm Hg), TGs (mean difference, −16.42 mg/dL), TC (mean difference, −9.06 mg/dL), and LDL-C (mean difference, −10.48 mg/dL), as well as increases in HDL-C (mean difference, 2.24 mg/dL).

There were no significant associations observed for other biomarkers, namely DBP, glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR.