Project partners from the University of Parma presented a MED4Youth related poster during the National Conference of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition (SINU) taking place from 7th – 9th of June in Arezzo (Italy).

The MED4Youth intervention study has the objective to compare the effectiveness of a Mediterranean Diet based intervention with a traditional low fat diet in tackling obesity and associated cardiovascular disease risk factors in children and adolescents overweigh or with obesity from Spain, Portugal and Italy.

The poster, titled “Tackling Youth Obesity: Preliminary results of the MED4Youth Study in Italy”, presented some of the main preliminary results of the project’s Italian study. These first results indicate that a dietary intervention based on the Mediterranean Diet did not produce any additional benefits over anthropometric parameters and dietary habits compared to the control group, but it is not less effective than the conventional clinical treatment base on a reduction of fat intake.

Partners from the Human Nutrition Unit and Department of Food and Drug of the University of Parma and representatives from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and the Unit of Pediatrics of the University Hospital of Parma, contributed to the poster production.

The Italian Society of Human Nutrition (SINU) is a non-profit scientific society that brings together scholars and experts in nutrition in its different chemical, molecular, genetic, biochemical, physiological, psychological, cognitive-behavioral, clinical, technological, educational, economic, political and social aspects.