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Diet quality and attention capacity in European adolescents: The Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study.
This 2017 study evaluated the link between dietary patterns and macronutrient composition with attention capacity in European adolescents. The Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study recruited 384 adolescents aged between 12.5-17.5 from 5 European countries. With the help of a computer-based tool, the dietary consumption of these participants could be assessed. Three dietary patterns (diet quality index, ideal diet score and Mediterranean diet score) and macronutrient/fiber intakes were calculated to be included in the analysis models. After adjusting for age, sex, BMI, maternal education, family affluence scale, study center and energy intake (only for Mediterranean diet score), positive associations were identified between higher diet quality index for adolescents and ideal diet score, with their attention capacity. However, the subjects’ calculated Mediterranean diet score and macronutrient/fiber intake levels did not correlate with attention capacity. Since the data suggest that healthier dietary patterns were related with attention capacity in adolescence, intervention studies inspecting a causal relationship between diet quality and attention are warranted. [NPID: cognition, macros, macronutrients, Mediterranean diet, Med diet, attention, diet quality]
Year: 2017
