Muscular Fitness, adherence to the Southern European Atlantic Diet and cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents

Abstract Background Muscular fitness and an adherence to the Southern European Atlantic Diet (SEADiet) have been inversely associated with cardiometabolic risk. Aim To assess the independent and combined associations of muscular fitness and adherence to the SEADiet on cardiometabolic risk in adolescents. Material and methods A total of 467 Portuguese adolescents (275 girls) participated in this cross-sectional study. Sum of the Z-Scores of Curl-Up and Push-Up tests was used to create a muscular fitness score. Adherence to SEADiet was obtained using a food frequency questionnaire. A cardiometabolic risk score was computed from sum of Z-score of triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol/HDL ratio, HOMA-IR and waist circumference. Results Adolescents with low muscular fitness and low adherence to the SEADiet had the poorest cardiovascular profile F(5, 452) =5.074 p