Lifestyle and awareness of cholesterol blood levels among 29159 community school children in Italy

Publication date: Available online 22 May 2019Source: Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular DiseasesAuthor(s): Francesco Martino, Eliana Martino, Paolo Versacci, Tarcisio Niglio, Cristina Zanoni, Paolo Emilio PudduAbstractLifestyle habits including indoor and outdoor activities among community school children, adherence to the Mediterranean diet and awareness about total cholesterol blood levels represent determinant factors in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet, total cholesterol blood levels, body composition and hours per day spent in in-house or outdoor among 29159 Italian 6-14 years-old community school children (50% boys). The KidMed questionnaire, modified to handle missing information on olive oil consumption, was used to assess the adherence to the Mediterranean diet among participants.Associations between variables were tested according to 3 classes of the Mediterranean diet adherence score using analysis of variance. Participants with high adherence to Mediterranean diet were few (1%). Overall awareness of total cholesterol blood levels was low among children (4.5%), slightly higher among parents (26.2 and 24.1% in mothers and fathers, respectively). Among Mediterranean diet adherent children, BMI was significantly (p<0.001) smaller than among the non-Mediterranean or intermediate adherent children as were the total hours spent per day watching television ...
Source: Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases - Category: Nutrition Source Type: research