Supervisors info:
Ευαγγελία Χαρμανδάρη, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Δέσποινα Μπριάνα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Φλώρα Μπακοπούλου, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity are serious public health problems of the 21st century, as they increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, as well as some types of cancer.
AIM: The purpose of this review was to determine the relation between eating habits / eating patterns and the risk of obesity among children and adolescents.
METHODOLOGY: PubMed was searched using the following keywords: “obesity,” “eating habits”, “dietary pattern,” “childhood,” “children,” adolescents. The criteria for selecting and/or excluding articles were: (1) studies related to overweight and obese children (age <18 years), (2) studies that identified the eating habits / eating patterns through a questionnaire, (3) the outcome of the studies was the frequency of consumption of various foods, and (4) the studies were original, published from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2020 and written in English.
RESULTS: From the search of the international literature, 1202 studies emerged, of which 16 were included in the review. Most of the studies (n = 14) were cross-sectional studies. Studies reported two to four dietary patterns. The dietary pattern, which included the consumption of fatty cheeses, sugary drinks, processed foods, fast food, snacks, animal products, whole milk, and refined seeds, was associated with an increased risk of developing obesity. On the other hand, the dietary pattern that included the consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, nuts, legumes, and yogurt was not associated with the risk of developing obesity.
CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents who follow a diet consisting of obesogenic foods are more likely to develop obesity. To prevent childhood obesity and reduce the prevalence of obesity in adulthood, it is necessary to develop effective approaches aimed at adopting healthy eating patterns.
Keywords:
Eating pattern, Eating habit, Adolescent, Child, Obesity
