Nova diet quality scores and risk of weight gain in the NutriNet-Brasil cohort study

• Published in: Public health nutrition 2023-11, Vol.26 (11), p.2366-2373
• Main Authors: Santos, Francine Silva dos, Martinez Steele, Eurídice, Costa, Caroline dos Santos, Gabe, Kamila Tiemman, Leite, Maria Alvim, Claro, Rafael Moreira, Touvier, Mathilde, Srour, Bernard, da Costa Louzada, Maria Laura, Levy, Renata Bertazzi, Monteiro, Carlos Augusto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: BMI; Body weight; Brazil; Breakfast foods; Cereals; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Diet; Diet quality metrics; Exercise; Fast Foods; Food; Food Handling; Food processing; Food products; Fruit juices; Humans; Nutritional Epidemiology; Nuts; Obesity; Overweight; Processed foods; Prospective Studies; Questionnaires; Research Paper; Risk; Self report; Validation studies; Weight control; Weight Gain
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980023001532

To assess the prospective association of two diet quality scores based on the Nova food classification with BMI gain. The NutriNet-Brasil cohort is an ongoing web-based prospective study with continuous recruitment of participants aged ≥ 18 years since January 2020. A short 24-h dietary recall screener including 'yes/no' questions about the consumption of whole plant foods (WPF) and ultra-processed foods (UPF) was completed by participants at baseline. The Nova-WPF and the Nova-UPF scores were computed by adding up positive responses regarding the consumption of thirty-three varieties of WPF and twenty-three varieties of UPF, respectively. Participants reported their height at baseline and their weight at both baseline and after approximately 15 months of follow-up. A 15-month BMI (kg/m ) increase of ≥5 % was coded as BMI gain. Brazil. 9551 participants from the NutriNet-Brasil cohort. Increasing quintiles of the Nova-UPF score were linearly associated with higher risk of BMI gain (relative risk Q5/Q1 = 1·34; 95 % CI 1·15, 1·56), whereas increasing quintiles of the Nova-WPF score were linearly associated with lower risk (relative risk Q5/Q1 = 0·80; 95 % CI 0·69, 0·94). We identified a moderate inverse correlation between the two scores (-0·33) and a partial mediating effect of the alternative score: 15 % for the total effect of the Nova-UPF score and 25 % for the total effect of the Nova-WPF score. The Nova-UPF and Nova-WPF scores are independently associated with mid-term BMI gain further justifying their use in diet quality monitoring systems.