Diet Journals

Dietary habits have always been a social and cultural referent of the different societies. However, scientific evidence in the past years associating diet and health condition has been essential in order to consider dietary habits of a concrete population as a social and sanitary indicator. The nutrition habits traditionally observed in some countries of the Mediterranean area have created the concept of “Mediterranean diet”, whose nutritional interest stands in the variety of foods included in it-in fact, every food group is allowed always an adequate Proportion- and the balanced calorie as well as nutrient intake they guarantee, through a combination of fruits and vegetables with bread, pasta and rice, as well as legumes with dairy products, fish and red meat and olive oil as a cooking fat. The dietary patterns of the schoolchildren with normal nutritional status differed from the Mediterranean diet. Intakes of meat and sugar were too high and dairy products and cereals consumption was relatively limited, while that of vegetables, legumes, fruits and fish were insufficient, leading to excessive protein and fat intake from animal sources and insufficient mineral (calcium and iodine) and vitamins A, D and E intake. Nevertheless, industrialization and marketing of the food chain in western countries, increasing production of processed food, are leading to a series of changes in dietary habits and preferences in wide sectors of the population. Society has accepted an occidental dietary pattern characterized by an excessive intake of food of animal origin, especially meat and derivatives, and added sugars, at the expense of the intake of cereals, vegetables and fruits Durá-Travé T, Dietary Habits in School Children (9-12 Years Old) with Normal Nutritional Status an a Mediterranean Area.

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Last date updated on September, 2024