Abstract
We assessed the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) and sensory processing in 583 Spanish children aged 3–7 years from the InProS project in Alicante, Spain. Child sensory processing was measured using the short sensory profile (SSP); atypical sensory performance was defined as SSP total score <155; tactile sensitivity <30; taste/smell sensitivity <15; movement sensitivity <13; under-responsive/seeks sensation <27; auditory filtering <23; low energy/weak <26; and visual/auditory sensitivity <19 scores. Adherence to the MD was measured using the Mediterranean diet quality index KIDMED. Multiple Poisson regression models with robust variance, based on the Huber sandwich estimate, were used to obtain prevalence ratios (PR). Our findings suggested that a lower prevalence of atypical tactile and taste/smell sensitivity were associated with having medium (PR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.25; 0.99; PR = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.33; 0.99, respectively) and high adherence to the MD (PR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.34; 0.99; PR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.19; 0.60, respectively), and of atypical low energy/weak with having medium adherence to the MD (PR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.16; 0.83). A two-point increase in adherence to the MD showed a general positive effect against atypical sensory performance, although it was statistically significant on taste/smell sensitivity (PR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.59; 0.85) and low energy/weak (PR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.64; 0.99) subscales. To our knowledge, this is the first study that shows a protective effect of adherence to the MD against prevalence of atypical sensory processing in school-aged children. Further research from longitudinal studies is required to confirm these findings.
Highlights
The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a dietary pattern characterized by a high intake of foods and fat with important antioxidant properties, such as fruits and vegetables, olive oil, and nuts [1]
When we explored the association per two-point increase in KIDMED score, the protective effect against the prevalence of atypical sensory processing remained statistically significant for taste/smell sensitivity (PR = 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.59; 0.85) and low energy and weak (PR = 0.80, 95%CI: 0.64; 0.99) subscales
After adjusting for potential confounding factors, our findings showed that a higher adherence to the MD was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of atypical performance in sensory profile (SSP) tactile and taste/smell sensitivity and low energy/weak subscales
Summary
The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a dietary pattern characterized by a high intake of foods and fat with important antioxidant properties, such as fruits and vegetables, olive oil, and nuts [1]. Consistent evidence has reported that a higher adherence to the MD has a beneficial effect on multiple health outcomes in adults [2], such as cardiovascular disease [3,4], cancer [5,6], mortality [7], and cognitive health [8], among others. An unbalanced diet during childhood can have an important impact on children’s health and development, resulting in detrimental consequences on several metabolic outcomes and a higher risk of developing neurological diseases in later adult life if not treated properly [16,17,18,19]
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