The social and psychological health of children is associated with Mediterranean diet adherence items, cardiorespiratory fitness, and lifestyle.

INTRODUCTION: Background: Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence, physical activity (PA) patterns, and physical fitness are associated with physical, social, and psychological health in children. Objective: the purpose of this study was to determine the association of items of MD adherence, fitness components, and lifestyle with psychological and social health in Chilean schoolchildren. Material and methods: this cross-sectional study included 615 schoolchildren, both girls (n = 271, 11.7 ± 1.00 years old) and boys (n = 344, 11.8 ± 1.1 years old). Anthropometric parameters, fitness components, lifestyle, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and self-esteem were measured.
Results: HRQoL showed an association with cardiorespiratory fitness (β: 0.12, p < 0.001) and PA (β: 0.32, p = 0.023). Self-esteem was inversely associated with screen time (β: -1.35, p < 0.001). Moreover, social health presented a positive association with PA after school (β: 0.06, p = 0.037). In relation to MD adherence items, HRQoL was linked to the items "Takes a fruit or fruit juice every day" (β: 1.93, p = 0.004) and "Consumes fresh or cooked vegetables ˃ 1 time/day" (β: 1.12, p = 0.018). Self-esteem was associated to "Consumes a dairy product ˃ 1 time/day" (β: 3.30, p = 0.030). Social health was inversely related to "Eats at a fast food restaurant ≥ 1 time/week" (β: -0.26, p = 0.003) and positively to "Consumes pasta or rice almost every day" (β: 0.35, p = 0.049).
Conclusion: MD adherence items, fitness, and lifestyle were linked to psychological and social health, therefore it is necessary to develop preventive strategies for schoolchildren to change in a positive way these modifiable lifestyle behaviors.