Adherence to Mediterranean Diet and Health Outcomes in Adolescents: An Umbrella Review.

Abstract

Context: Proper nutrition represents 1 of the domains of adolescents' well-being. In this context, the Mediterranean diet (MD), as a healthy, traditional, and sustainable dietary pattern, plays a crucial role in promoting adequate growth and preventing chronic noncommunicable diseases.

Objective: The currently available evidence on the effects of adherence to the MD (AMD) in association with several physical health outcomes in adolescence is summarized in this review.

Data sources: Five electronic databases were searched.

Study selection: Systematic reviews with or without meta-analysis of observational studies and randomized clinical trials, published in English during 2013-2022, and that assessed the health impact of AMD among adolescents were eligible.

Data extraction: Details on study design, methods, population, assessment of dietary patterns, health outcomes, and main results were extracted.

Results: The search yielded 59 references after removal of duplicates. Applying PICOS criteria, 4 systematic reviews and 3 meta-analyses ultimately were included in this review. The AMD was evaluated in association with overweight/obesity and adiposity in 2 studies, musculoskeletal health in another 2, inflammation in 1 study, and cardiometabolic health in 1 study. The seventh review examined all mentioned health outcomes (overweight and obesity, musculoskeletal health, inflammation, and cardiometabolic health) in relation to AMD.

Conclusions: Overall, this umbrella review showed limited evidence and a lack of consistency about the relation between AMD and health outcomes of interest in adolescence, indicating the need for more studies to better understand it.

Systemic review registration: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42023428712.