• César Agostinis-Sobrinho, Robinson Ramírez-Vélez, Antonio García-Hermoso, Rafaela Rosário, Carla Moreira, Luís Lopes, Arvydas Martinkenas, Jorge Mota, and Rute Santos.
• Faculty of Sport, Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido Costa, 91., 4200-450, Porto, Portugal. cesaragostinis@hotmail.com.
• Eur J Nutr. 2019 Oct 1; 58 (7): 2649-2656.

PurposeLow-grade inflammation leads to several metabolic disorders, and adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and muscular fitness (MF) has been considered important markers of metabolic healthy in youth. We investigated the combined association of adherence to Mediterranean diet, and muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in adolescents.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional analysis with 1462 adolescents (625 girls) aged 9-18 years from Colombia and Portugal. MedDiet was assessed by Kidmed questionnaire. Shuttle run test was used to assess CRF. MF was assessed by the standing long-jump and handgrip tests. High-sensitivity assays were used to obtain the hs-CRP level.ResultsLogistic regression shows that subjects with a low adherence to MedDiet and LowMF/LowCRF had a similar odds (OR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.2-4.0) as those with an optimal adherence to MedDiet and LowMF/LowCRF (OR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.2-5.0) of expressing high inflammatory profile when compared to those with an optimal adherence to MedDiet and HighMF/HighCRF. In addition, ANCOVA showed that subjects classified as high adherence to MedDiet and HighMF/HighCRF had, on average, the lowest levels of hs-CRP (F(7,1454) = 2.051 p = 0.04).ConclusionThe combination of optimal levels of CRF and MF and adherence to MedDiet is associated with lower hs-CRP. However, high MF and CRF seems to counteract the deleterious effect of having a low adherence to the MedDiet on hs-CRP levels.

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