CHARACTERIZATION OF MEDITERRANEAN DIET PATTERN AND THEIR ADHERENCE IN A PREPUBERAL POPULATION OF METABOLICALLY HEALTHY OBESE

Background and objectives: The prevalence of child obesity is increasing rapidly worldwide. It is associated with several risk factors for later heart disease and other chronic diseases including hyperlipidaemia, hyperinsulinaemia, hypertension, and early atherosclerosis. A subgroup of obese subjects classified as "metabolically healthy obese" (MHO) present a favorable metabolic profile despite having excess body adiposity. The aims of this study were to study the obesity prevalence in our environment and analyzed how is the characteristics of their Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) of a population of prepuberal MHO. Methods: Seventy-eight prepuberal obese with a body mass index (BMI) ≥95 of 25.1±3.4 kg/m2 and aged 7.8±1.3 years. They present ≤1 of the following criteria: abdominal circumference and blood pressure, ≥90 percentile, impaired fasting glucose, HDL-C 90 mg/dL were included in this study. Food consumption was evaluated with a validated food-frequency questionnaire, exploring the consumption of carbohydrates, meat, milk derives, fish, fruit, vegetables, and olive oil. Adherence to the traditional MedDiet was assessed by a 13-point MedDiet scale that incorporated the main characteristics of this diet. Physical activity was evaluated by accelerometry (Actigraph TM GT3X). Results: All population showed discrete levels of adherence to the MedDiet (7.1±1.8 points). On the other hand, we observed in baseline conditions an important energy intake in all subjects (2041.0±353 kcal), intake of total carbohydrate (217.0±44.2%), total proteins (85.2±15.1%), total fat (93.3±22.0%), saturated fatty acids (29.8±8.3), monounsaturated fatty acids (40.0±8.5), polyunsaturated fatty acids (14.6±5.7), cholesterol (336.8 ± 87.2 mg/d), fiber intake (12.7±4.0 g/d) and lastly, vitamin D intake was 1.6±1.2 g/d, without significant differences by gender. On the other hand, physical activity showed the high prevalence of sedentarism (866.1±284.3 min/d), and discrete physical exercise with light to moderate (94.5±52.6 min/d), moderate to vigorous (18.6±15.0 min/d) and total physical activity (367.7±148.8 counts/min·d). Conclusions: A healthy lifestyle, adequate eating habits, and physical activity should be encouraged. A lack of physical activity has been reported to be a major predicting factor of childhood obesity, superseding compliance with a MedDiet.