Citation: Andueza, N.; Martin-Calvo, N.; Navas-Carretero, S.; Cuervo, M. The ALINFA Intervention Improves Diet Quality and Nutritional Status in Children 6 to 12 Years Old. Nutrients 2023, 15, 2375. https:// doi.org/10.3390/nu15102375 Received: 31 March 2023 Revised: 15 May 2023 Accepted: 17 May 2023 Published: 18 May 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). nutrients Article The ALINFA Intervention Improves Diet Quality and Nutritional Status in Children 6 to 12 Years Old Naroa Andueza 1,2 , Nerea Martin-Calvo 3,4,5 , Santiago Navas-Carretero 1,2,4,5, * and Marta Cuervo 1,2,5 1 Department of Nutrition, Food Sciences and Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain; nandueza@unav.es (N.A.) 2 Center for Nutrition Research, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain 3 Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Navarra, University Campus, 31008 Pamplona, Spain; nmartincalvo@unav.es 4 Biomedical Research Networking Center for Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Institute of Health Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain 5 Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), 31008 Pamplona, Spain * Correspondence: snavas@unav.es; Tel.: +34-948-425600 Abstract: The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a new nutritional intervention, focused on improving the quality of the diet in children aged 6 to 12 years. A 2-month parallel, controlled randomized trial was conducted in the Spanish child population. The children were randomized to ALINFA nutritional intervention, which consisted of a normocaloric diet that incorporates products, ready-to-eat meals and healthy recipes specifically designed for the study, or a control group, which received the usual advice on healthy eating. The change in diet quality was assessed through the Kidmed index. The secondary outcomes were anthropometry, glucose and lipid profiles, inflam- mation markers, dietary intake and lifestyle. The participants in the intervention group showed an increase in the mean score of the Kidmed index (p < 0.001). Alongside that, these children decreased their intake of calories (p = 0.046), and total and saturated fat (p = 0.016//p = 0.011), and increased fiber intake (p < 0.001). Likewise, the children in the ALINFA group increased the intake of white fish (p = 0.001), pulses (p = 0.004), whole grains (p < 0.001) and nuts (p < 0.001), and decreased fatty meat (p = 0.014), refined grain (p = 0.008), pastry (p < 0.001), fast food (p < 0.001) and sugar (p = 0.001) intake. Moreover, these children had a significantly decreased BMI (p < 0.001), BMI z-score (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p = 0.016) and fat mass (p = 0.011), as well as leptin (p = 0.004). Participants in the control group did not report significant changes in diet quality. In conclusion, ALINFA nutritional intervention is possibly a useful strategy to increase the diet quality in children, which is associated to improvements in the nutritional status. These results highlight the importance of developing well-designed nutritional interventions. Keywords: diet quality; children; nutritional intervention; Kidmed index 1. Introduction Childhood is an important life stage for nutritional wellbeing, as eating habits de- veloped during that time tend to track throughout adolescence and adulthood [1,2]. The consolidation of healthy dietary habits at an early age may prevent the development of future chronic diseases [3–5]. In addition, poor dietary habits are associated with the presence of overweight and obesity, as well as their comorbidities [6]. Many institutions, including the World Health Organization, are warning about the alarming increase in the rates of excess body weight across many population groups, with children being among the most worrying [7]. The probability of suffering food-related diseases in the adult life increases if they are set at an early age [3]. Dietary habits are influenced by multiple factors, including demographic, personal and environmental factors and food preferences, among others [5,6,8]. Food preferences, Nutrients 2023, 15, 2375. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15102375 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients