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. 2018 Nov 24;15(12):2632.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph15122632.

Healthy Lifestyle: Relationship between Mediterranean Diet, Body Composition and Physical Fitness in 13 to 16-Years Old Icelandic Students

Pablo Galan-Lopez  1 , Francis Ries  2 , Thordis Gisladottir  3 , Raúl Domínguez  4 , Antonio J Sánchez-Oliver  5   6
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Free PMC article

Healthy Lifestyle: Relationship between Mediterranean Diet, Body Composition and Physical Fitness in 13 to 16-Years Old Icelandic Students

Pablo Galan-Lopez et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Childhood and adolescent obesity are currently among the greatest challenges for public health. Physical activity, physical fitness, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), representing powerful indicators of healthy lifestyles, are shown as determinant factors in the prevention and treatment of obesity. The aim of the present study has been to analyse the relationship between health-related physical fitness components, body composition, and adherence to MD in 387 Icelandic adolescents of 13⁻16-years old (54% boys). The ALPHA Fitness Test was used to measure physical fitness and body composition. The KIDMED questionnaire was used to assess the adherence to MD among participants. Associations between variables were tested according to gender and age using linear regression models and analysis of variance. Participants with high/medium adherence to MD showed significantly higher endurance scores in both the boys and the girls. Gender differences were found. The boys in high/medium MD categories had significantly lower fat percentages and ran a 4 × 10 m sprint faster than the girls. The girls scored higher than the boys in endurance and speed-agility tests. It can be concluded that a high and medium adherence to MD is associated with high and very high endurance in both the girls and the boys.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; adolescents; body composition; physical fitness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Classification of the mean levels of body composition variables based on the average levels established by Moreno et al. (2006, 2007) [57,58].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean levels of physical fitness variables based on the average levels established by Ortega et al. (2011) [59].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proportion of boys and girls in each of the Alpha Fitness categories based on the percentage of body fat.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean levels of body composition variables in the boys based on the grouping by Moreno et al. (2006, 2007) [57,58].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean levels of body composition variables in the girls based on the grouping by Moreno et al. (2006, 2007) [57,58].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Mean levels of the physical fitness variables in the boys based on the average levels established by Ortega et al. (2011) [59].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Mean levels of the physical fitness variables in the girls based on the average levels established by Ortega et al. (2011) [59].
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