485 The Relationship Between Diet Mediterranean Quality Index (KIDMED) and nutritional status in preschool children

Abstract

<h3></h3> To determine the frequency of overweight/obesity preschool kids, evaluate the importance of the Diet Mediterranean quality index (KIDMED) in assessing eating habits and identify predictors of overweight/obesity in our subjects. This cross-sectional study included 97 children, of which 53.6% were boys. The mean age was 42 ± 12.51 months (age range 20–60 months). All children are under the medical supervision of the Health Center of Sarajevo Canton and the Health Center Orašje. The children were healthy, the study included anonymous survey testing (sociodemographic data, parental body mass index, childbirth mass, breastfeeding duration, initiation of complementary feeding and dietary habits), and determination of weight and height in children. A modified KIDMED questionnaire was used to assess eating habits. The WHO Anthro software v 3.2.2 was used for calculating BMI-z-score- for age-sex and classified BMI z-score based on WHO criteria for children ages 0 to 5 years. Of the 97 children analyzed, 23 (23.7%) were obese, with the same number of overweight children. A total of 50 (51.5%) of analyzed children were within normal body mass index value. Of the 23 children with obesity, 82.6% were breastfed for less than six months, whereas in 65.2% cases, complementary feeding was introduced before the 4th month. Educational, work, or socioeconomic status of parents did not influence BMI and KIDMED index values. The modified KIDMED index had a median value of 5 (IQR: 3- 8). Correlation analysis revealed a strong negative correlation between BMI and KIDMED index (r = -0.62, p &lt;0.001). The number of daily meals had a positive correlation with the KIDMED index (r = 0.50, p &lt;0.001), and a weak negative correlation with the BMI index (r = -0.37, p &lt;0.001). Regression analysis showed that the largest influence on the KIDMED index was the number of daily meals (p &lt;0.001), and the BMI classification (p = 0.02). Research has shown that a significant number of preschool children are overweight/obese, thus posing a major public health problem that can be considered a cause of non-communicable diseases at a later age. In this regard, intensifying primordial and primary prevention of excess weight from earliest youth should be taken in consideration. The KIDMED index may serve as a useful screening tool for assessing of children’s eating habits and nutritional status quality and should be included in the daily pediatric practice.