[Performance of nutritional education programmes to prevent obesity in children through a pilot study in Soria].

Background: Spain has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe. The Spanish authorities of health have launched some strategies, which among others, includes activities to develop healthier dietary habits in children.

Objective: The aim of the present study has been to assess the effectiveness of the nutritional education programmes undertaken to prevent obesity in children through a pilot study in Soria. This has been evaluated through the comparative study of adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and anthropometric parameters between two samples of same age schoolchildren at an interval of 10 years.

Subjects And Methods: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and BMI was evaluated in two occasional samples of pupils aged between 6 and 9 years, who were attended to 5 public Schools in Soria, during two academic years 1998/ 99 (n=119) and 2008/09 (n=231). Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated by the KidMed index.

Results: There were no differences in KidMed score between sexes within the same sample. However, there were a significant differences (p<0.0001) in total KidMed socore between the 2008/09 and 1998/99 schoolchildren. The mean BMIs were similar for the boys and girls of the same course, while it was significantly lower (p<0.05) in 2008/09 school children. The Kidmed score was negatively associated with BMI (r=-0.133, p<0.05).

Conclusions: The proportion of childhood that showed an upper-middle degree of adherence to the Mediterranean diet patterns was higher among 2008-09 pupils. These results suggests that activities coordinated from different agencies in Spain, may be a useful tool for promotion of healthy eating habits in children.