Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet is Associated with Greater Academic Performance in Primary Schoolchildren

A study published last year in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior performed a cross-sectional study to determine any potential associations between adherence to the Mediterranean

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com

diet, body weight, energy, and academic performance in Greek school-aged children.

528 primary schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 12 years old (split relatively evenly between boys and girls) from 21 different schools in and around Athens, Greece were recruited for this study.

Activity levels, anxiety levels, self-esteem/self-perception levels, body image dissatisfaction, and dietary habits for each child were measured using self-reported questionnaires.

Academic performance was evaluated by the children’s teachers, who then completed questionnaires to be analyzed by the researchers.

Finally, height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, and abdominal obesity were measured for each child.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet is Associated with Greater Academic Performance in Primary Schoolchildren

Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 01/09/2015

Please click on the links below to read the full articles.

Photo See page for author [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo See page for author [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Alcohol

Olives and Olive Oil

Continue reading Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 01/09/2015

Strong Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Associated with Lower Risk of Sarcopenia and Frailty in Older Adults

Sarcopenia is defined by the loss of skeletal muscle mass and quality of strength with aging, and is associated with frailty in older adults.

Photo By Adam Jones Adam63 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Adam Jones Adam63 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Not an actual disease, sarcopenia is part of the natural progression of aging. Healthy individuals, as they age, often have some degree of sarcopenia, however, there are ways to avoid severe progression of the condition, by way of diet, exercise, and other lifestyle choices.

A new study, very similar to another recent study on the effect of diet on frailty in older Spanish adults, looked at adherence to different diets on prevalence of sarcopenia in older Iranian adults.

300 Iranian adults aged 55 and older were randomly selected for this study, and were instructed to complete questionnaires related to dietary habits and patterns. Prevalence of sarcopenia was determined for each participant and compared to their responses on the dietary pattern questionnaires.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Strong Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Associated with Lower Risk of Sarcopenia and Frailty in Older Adults

Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 01/08/2015

Please click on the links below to read the full articles.

Sneeze_in_white_hankie-french-paradox
Photo By mcfarlandmo [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Wine

Alcohol

Olives and Olive Oil

Continue reading Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 01/08/2015

Eating a Healthy Diet Reduces Risk of Systemic Inflammation in Older Adults

Systemic inflammation is known to be associated with several health problems and diseases, including various types of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancers. It is also known that a poor diet is also linked to these same diseases and more, raising the question of

Photo By Dimitrije Krstic (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Dimitrije Krstic (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
whether diet choice is associated with systemic inflammation, or if these markers for certain diseases are mutually exclusive.

A new research study from Lund University in Sweden focused on a group of 667 older adults between the ages of 63 and 68, to determine if diet quality was associated with the clinical signs of systemic inflammation.

At baseline, the participants answered questions related to socio-demographics. Additionally, height, weight, BMI, hip and waist circumferences, blood pressure, various blood sample measurements, and diet quality indices were collected and analyzed.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Eating a Healthy Diet Reduces Risk of Systemic Inflammation in Older Adults