High and moderate adherence to Mediterranean lifestyle is inversely associated with overweight, general and abdominal obesity in children and adolescents: The MediLIFE-index

Abstract Several lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, have been linked to pediatric obesity. However, relatively few studies have considered them simultaneously, as a pattern. To investigate the associations between students' lifestyle and overweight, general and abdominal obesity, an a priori Mediterranean lifestyle index (i.e., MediLIFE-index) was created. We hypothesized that students' characteristics and their probability to be overweight or obese would be lower towards a better adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle pattern. 174 209 students aged 6–18 years from all geographical regions of Greece, who participated in the 2014–2015 «ЕYΖНN» study were included. The total range of MediLIFE-index was 0–8 (higher values indicating greater adherence to the Mediterranean lifestyle). Index values were thereafter divided into three groups according to its tertiles (a) ‘non-adherent’; (b) ‘moderately adherent’; and (c) “highly adherent” to the Mediterranean lifestyle. The mean ± standard deviation of the MediLIFE-index was 5.1 ± 1.6. Students with higher scores had lower BMI and waist circumference (all P