## 3 Results  
A total of 177,091 kids and teenagers between the ages of 8 and 17 participated in the survey. Table 1 displays the basic descriptive information for the entire sample, categorized by sex. In addition to having higher KIDMED scores, more girls than boys reported eating vegetables more than once a day (25.5% vs. 24.0%, \(p\) < 0.001). Anthropometric, PA, screen time, and aerobic fitness metrics were all higher in boys than in girls (all \(p\)-values < 0.001). Table 2 presents the anthropometric and behavioral characteristics of the study participants based on how frequently they eat vegetables. Both sexes who were categorized as frequent vegetable consumers had superior anthropometric measurements, reduced screen time, healthier food habits, better aerobic fitness, and slept more than non-consumers of the same sex (all \(p\)-values < 0.01). Next, we apply logistic regression analysis to evaluate the potential impact of dietary practices on increasing vegetable consumption. The unadjusted model's results (Table 3, Model 1) revealed that eating frequently fruits, nuts, pulses, pasta or rice, and two yogurts and/or cheese (40 g) per day increased the likelihood that both sexes would consume vegetables more than once a day. Additionally, both sexes were less likely to consume vegetables if they often consumed sweets. Regardless of adjusting for waist circumference, BMI, and age, there was still a significant correlation between eating habits and vegetable intake (Table 3, Model 2). Further adjustments for screen and sleep time, and PA did not significantly alter the results (Table 3, Model 3). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline  & **Total** & **Boys** & **Girls** & _p-Value*_ \\ \hline Age (years) & 9.88 (2.8) & 9.91 (2.8) & 9.84 (2.8) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Children 8–11 years, n (\%) & 100,134 & 51,161 (50.9) & 48,973 (49.1) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Adolescents 12–17 years, n (\%) & 76,975 & 39,660 (52.5) & 37,315 (47.5) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Height (cm) & 149 (13.5) & 150 (14.5) & 148 (12.3) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Weight (kg) & 44.5 (14.2) & 45.5 (15.2) & 43.5 (12.9) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Body mass index (kg/m\({}^{2}\)) & 19.7 (3.8) & 19.8 (3.8) & 19.5 (3.7) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Waist circumference (cm) & 70.4 (10.7) & 71.6 (11.1) & 69.2 (10.2) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Waist-to-height ratio & 0.30 (0.46) & 0.32 (0.47) & 0.28 (0.45) & \textless{}0.001 \\ KIDMED score (0, 12) \({}^{\ddagger}\) & 6.7 (2.4) & 6.7 (2.4) & 6.8 (2.4) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Vegetable intake \textgreater{} 1/d, n (\%) & 42,310 (24.7) & 21,051 (24.0) & 21,259 (25.5) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Physical activity (h/wk) & 9.4 (5.5) & 10.4 (5.9) & 8.4 (5.2) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Screen time (h/wk) & 8.6 (8.5) & 9.3 (8.8) & 7.8 (7.8) & \textless{}0.001 \\ Sleep time weekdays, (h/d) & 8.6 (1.6) & 8.6 (1.6) & 8.7 (1.6) & \textless{}0.001 \\
20 m shuttle run (laps) & 31.1 (18.9) & 36.2 (20.6) & 25.4 (13.9) & \textless{}0.001 \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
* KIDMED: Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for Children and Adolescents; KIDMED score (\(\leq\)3: insufficient dietary habits, 4–7: relatively sufficient dietary habits, \(\geq\)8: sufficient dietary habits).
* _p-_values for differences between boys and girls.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Study participants’ baseline characteristics (means, SD).