Larruy García, AliciaMiguel Berges, María L.Rueda-De Torre, IsabelPastor Villaescusa, BelénLeis Trabazo, María RosauraBabío, NancyNavas-Carretero, SantiagoCorella, DoloresPérez, AlejandraGil Campos, MercedesPicans Leis, RosauraGarcía-Gavilán, JesúsFlores-Barrante, PalomaMartínez, Alfredo J.Llorente Cantarero, Francisco JesúsVázquez Cobela, RocíoPaz-Graniel, IndiraAyala-Marín, Aleli M.Jurado Castro, José ManuelTorre-Aguilar, María José de laGheorghita, IrinaMoreno, Luis A.Miguel Etayo, Pilar deThe CORAL Study group2026-01-282026-01-282025-04-21Larruy-García, A., Miguel-Berges, M. L., Torre, I. R., Pastor-Villaescusa, B., Leis, R., Babio, N., Navas-Carretero, S., Corella, D., Pérez, A., Gil-Campos, M., Picáns-Leis, R., Garcia-Gavilán, J., Flores-Barrante, P., Martínez, J. A., Llorente-Cantarero, F. J., Vázquez-Cobela, R., Paz-Graniel, I., Ayala-Marín, A. M., Jurado-Castro, J. M., de la Torre-Aguilar, M. J., … CORAL Study group (2025). Cross-sectional associations between Mediterranean diet and body composition in preschool children. CORAL study. Pediatric obesity, 20(7), e70014. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.700142047-63022047-6310https://hdl.handle.net/10347/45495This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [ Larruy-García A, Miguel-Berges ML, Torre IR-D, et al. Cross-sectional associations between Mediterranean diet and body composition in preschool children. CORAL study. Pediatric Obesity. 2025; 20(7):e70014], which has been published in final form at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.70014. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.Background: Overweight and obesity in children are rising globally, and the Mediterranean diet may help reduce obesity and related diseases. Objective: To assess the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and body composition in Spanish preschool children. Methods: This study included 1218 children aged 3-6 years from the CORALS cohort. Mediterranean diet adherence was evaluated using the validated MED4CHILD and COME-Kids F&B-FQ questionnaires. Body composition measurements included weight, height, waist circumference, BMI, Fat Mass (FM), Fat-Free Mass Index (FFMI), and Waist-to-Height ratio (WtHR). Multivariate regression and ANCOVA were used to examine associations, adjusting for factors like age, physical activity, and energy intake. We also performed a Cohen's d analysis to assess effect size. Results: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with more favourable body composition in children. Specifically, both the MED4CHILD score and the COME-Kids-derived score showed signifengMediterranean dietBody compositionBody fatPreschool children3201 Ciencias clínicasjournal article10.1111/ijpo.70014open access