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. 2019 Mar 25;11(3):698.
doi: 10.3390/nu11030698.

Higher Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet is Related to More Subjective Happiness in Adolescents: The Role of Health-Related Quality of Life

Rosario Ferrer-Cascales  1 , Natalia Albaladejo-Blázquez  2 , Nicolás Ruiz-Robledillo  3 , Violeta Clement-Carbonell  4 , Miriam Sánchez-SanSegundo  5 , Ana Zaragoza-Martí  6
Affiliations

Higher Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet is Related to More Subjective Happiness in Adolescents: The Role of Health-Related Quality of Life

Rosario Ferrer-Cascales et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) has previously been related to better quality of life in the general population. Further, children and adolescents have obtained better health outcomes when they have shown high adherence to the MD in recent studies. Nevertheless, the association between the adherence to this type of diet and subjective happiness have not been previously analysed in this population. The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between MD adherence, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and subjective happiness in a sample of 527 Spanish adolescents. Results obtained show positive associations of MD adherence with higher levels of subjective happiness and better HRQOL. Moreover, mediation analyses showed a full mediation effect of some components of HRQOL, namely, emotional well-being, mood and emotions, financial resources and social acceptance, in the association between MD adherence and subjective happiness. This study advances our understanding of the association of MD and levels of happiness in the general population, specifically in adolescents, through the positive effects of specific components of HRQOL. Future studies should evaluate other variables that could influence or also mediate this relationship, evaluating specific groups of adolescents, such as clinical samples.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; adolescents; happiness; health-related quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mediation model testing the indirect association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) and happiness through the effects of each dimension of HRQOL. Dashed paths are non-significant. (** p < 0.01).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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