Adherence to the Mediterranean diet, long-term weight change, and incident overweight or obesity: The Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort

Abstract

Background The Mediterranean dietary pattern might be a potential tool for the prevention of obesityObjectives We studied the association between adherence to 6 previously published scores used to assess the adherence to the Mediterranean diet and weight change We also assessed the risk of relevant weight gain (>= 5 kg) or the risk of developing overweight or obesityDesign The study population included 10 376 Spanish men and women who were university graduates (mean age = 38 y) and were followed up for a mean (+/- SD) of 57 +/- 22 y Diet was assessed at baseline with a 136 item previously validated food frequency questionnaire Weight was assessed at baseline and biennially during follow upResults Participants with the lowest adherence (<= 3 points) to the Mediterranean dietary score (MDS) proposed by Trichopoulou et al (range 0-9 N Engl J Med 2003 348 2599-608) exhibited the high est average yearly weight gain whereas participants with the high est (6 >= points) adherence exhibited the lowest weight gain (adjusted difference -0 059 kg/y 95% CI -0111 -0 008 kg/y P for trend = 0 02) This inverse association was extended to other a priori defined MDSs The group with the highest adherence to the MDS also showed the lowest risk of relevant weight gain (>= 5 kg) during the first 4 y of follow up (odds ratio 0 76 95% CI 0 64 0 90)Conclusions Adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern is significantly associated with reduced weight gain This dietary pattern can be recommended to slow down age related weight gain.