NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND COFACTORS IN ADOLESCENTS: EVIDENCE FROM AN ITALIAN MULTICENTRIC COHORT
type: CreativeWork
description: Adolescence represents a developmental period characterized by rapid physical growth, hormonal changes, and evolving dietary behaviors, with an impact on the establishment of dietary habits that influence health trajectories into adulthood. Understanding the multifaced determinants of nutritional status in this vulnerable population is essential for developing targeted interventions for health promotion. Herein, an integrated evaluation of the nutritional status of Italian adolescents is conducted through: (1) the analysis of Mediterranean Diet (MD) adherence patterns across different Italian geographic areas; (2) the assessment of factors associated with MD adherence and with a normal-weight status; (3) the investigation of adolescents’ nutrition knowledge (NK), including the development and validation of a sustainability-related nutrition knowledge questionnaire (SUNK-A); and (4) the exploration of salivary fatty acids as non-invasive nutritional biomarkers. A narrative review confirmed that MD adherence among Italian adolescents is generally suboptimal, with low adherence affecting approximately one third of individuals and higher prevalence observed in Southern regions. Weight status emerged as the most consistently associated factor across studies. The multicentric observational SUN_ITA study involved 475 adolescents (mean age 12.7 ± 0.9 years; 44.8% females) from Milan, Rome, and Naples. Normal weight was the most prevalent condition (57.4%), while overweight and obesity were more frequent in Rome than in Milan (p = 0.003). MD adherence was predominantly moderate and comparable across cities and urban areas. However, boys showed significantly higher adherence than girls (p = 0.001). After adjustment, a multivariate logistic regression analysis highlighted that MD adherence was not independently associated with overweight/obesity, whereas male sex (OR = 2.01, p = 0.004) and city of residence (Rome vs. Milan: OR = 1.91, p = 0.006) were identified as significant …
abstract: Adolescence represents a developmental period characterized by rapid physical growth, hormonal changes, and evolving dietary behaviors, with an impact on the establishment of dietary habits that influence health trajectories into adulthood. Understanding the multifaced determinants of nutritional status in this vulnerable population is essential for developing targeted interventions for health promotion. Herein, an integrated evaluation of the nutritional status of Italian adolescents is conducted through: (1) the analysis of Mediterranean Diet (MD) adherence patterns across different Italian geographic areas; (2) the assessment of factors associated with MD adherence and with a normal-weight status; (3) the investigation of adolescents’ nutrition knowledge (NK), including the development and validation of a sustainability-related nutrition knowledge questionnaire (SUNK-A); and (4) the exploration of salivary fatty acids as non-invasive nutritional biomarkers. A narrative review confirmed that MD adherence among Italian adolescents is generally suboptimal, with low adherence affecting approximately one third of individuals and higher prevalence observed in Southern regions. Weight status emerged as the most consistently associated factor across studies. The multicentric observational SUN_ITA study involved 475 adolescents (mean age 12.7 ± 0.9 years; 44.8% females) from Milan, Rome, and Naples. Normal weight was the most prevalent condition (57.4%), while overweight and obesity were more frequent in Rome than in Milan (p = 0.003). MD adherence was predominantly moderate and comparable across cities and urban areas. However, boys showed significantly higher adherence than girls (p = 0.001). After adjustment, a multivariate logistic regression analysis highlighted that MD adherence was not independently associated with overweight/obesity, whereas male sex (OR = 2.01, p = 0.004) and city of residence (Rome vs. Milan: OR = 1.91, p = 0.006) were identified as significant …
author: ABODI, MARTINA
language: eng
keywords: adolescent, nutritional statu, dietary intake, mediterranean diet, Settore MEDS-08/C - Scienza dell'alimentazione e delle tecniche dietetiche applicate
date published: 2026-05-15
date modified: 2026-07-27T20:18:46Z
provider: Università degli Studi di Milano
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Università degli Studi di Milano

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/1241136