Resumen de Effects of Mediterranean diet in patients with recurring colds and frequent complications

F. Calatayud Sáez, B. Calatayud Moscoso del Prado, J.G. Gallego Fernández-Pacheco, Carmen González Martín, Luis Fernando Alguacil Merino

• Introduction:

  In recent years, traditional diets enriched with fresh plant-based foods have been gradually abandoned, increasing the consumption of animal foods and highly processed food.

  The aim of this study was to assess the effects of a nutritional intervention with a Tra- ditional Mediterranean Diet in patients with recurring colds (RC) and frequent inflammatory complications (IC).

  Methods:

  Prospective before-after comparison study of 63 girls and 65 boys aged 1 --- 5 years were included over a year in the nutritional programme ‘‘Learning to eat from the Mediterranean’’.

  We studied clinical and therapeutic variables and various anthropometric parameters.

  Results:

  All the studied indicators (number of catarrhal episodes CB, degree of intensity, emergency and hospital admissions) showed a positive and statistically significant evolution, evidenced from the first weeks of starting treatment, until the end of the year, after which 53.9% of patients had no CB, 25% had only one, and 16.4% had two episodes, compared to the 4.64 episodes on average in the previous year.

  Antibiotic use decreased by 87.4%, from 3.85 ± 1.27 times/patient/year to 0.49 ± 0.79 ( p < 0.001).

  Symptomatic treatment decreased by 56.7%, from 7.03 ± 2.76 to 3.05 ± 1.69 ( p < 0.001).

  The satisfaction of the families was very high.

  The Kidmed index, which assesses the quality of the Mediterranean Diet, increased from 7.8 to 10.9 points.

  Conclusion:

  The adoption of a Traditional Mediterranean Diet could be a major contribution to the improvement of patients with recurring colds and frequent inflammatory complications