ADHERENCE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET IN CHILD AND ADOLESCENT ATHLETES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

The objective of this review was to analyze studies conducted in child and adolescent athletes using the KIDMED index to study their adherence to the Mediterranean diet (ADM). A search was conducted in different databases including WOS, Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Sport Discuss between January 1st and June 1st, 2020, following the PRISMA guide. Of the 82 studies identified, 10 articles analyzed ADM and met all the inclusion criteria. Results indicated that the highest percentages of optimal ADM are evident in male canoeists, followed by male soccer players, rhythmic gymnasts, and female kayakers (66%, 54.8%, 52.2%, and 51%, respectively). Results are improvable in all the athletes analyzed, mainly in female futsal players. Most studies do not show a relationship between ADM and anthropometric measurements. In conclusion, most athletes show between improvable and optimal adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and only a few obtain low adherence percentages. Therefore, the pattern of adherence to the Mediterranean diet is mostly acceptable but not optimal. In addition, the quality of most of the studies included in the systematic review are rated high based on the STROBE guidelines.