Doctors have long recommended the Mediterranean diet, with its heart-boosting and diabetes-busting recipes, to drop high blood pressure, stave off diabetes and eliminate inflation in patients.
Researchers said parents should allow teens and children to chow down on Mediterranean diet recipes, too.
“This is the way the whole family should eat,” said Dr. Christina Brown, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente. “I tell my patients all the time that the more of the real food you can eat, rather than from a bag, box or factory, the better off you’ll be.”
This comes as new research from JAMA Network discovered the meal plan improved heart health in children as young as 3 years old.
Researchers tracked children over an eight-week period, serving them whole grains, olive oil, eggs and legumes in breakfasts, lunches and dinners. They also found that the eating plan lowered the children’s cholesterol dropped, too.
Brown said parents should get kids in on healthy meal planning.
“They can help make the grocery list,” she said. “Most of us say, ‘We’re too busy for this.’ We need to grab the fast food or the prepackaged snacks, but if you plan ahead when you’re hungry, you’re not just going for the easiest thing.”
The research also supports starting healthy eating, like the Mediterranean diet, early to avoid obesity and metabolic disorders, like stroke, diabetes and heart disease, which oftentimes begin in childhood.
“Start early, even for infants and toddlers,” Brown said. “Keeping these habits throughout your entire life will set you up for success.”
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