Dietary Energy Density in Relation to Subsequent Changes of Weight and Waist Circumference in European Men and Women

• Published in: PloS one 2009-04, Vol.4 (4), p.e5339-e5339
• Main Authors: Du, H, Ginder, V, Jebb, S.A, Forouchi, N.G, Wareham, N, Halkjaer, J, Tjonneland, A, Overvad, K, Jakobsen, M.U, Buijsse, B, Steffen, A, Palli, D, Masala, G, Saris, W.H, Sorensen, T, Feskens, E.J.M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdominal Fat; Adult; Aged; Analysis; Beverages; Body mass; Body measurements; Body weight; Body weight gain; Cancer; Cardiovascular diseases; Chair Nutrition and Disease; Chair Nutrition and Health over the Lifecourse; Cohort Studies; Confidence intervals; Demographics; Diabetes mellitus; Diet; Energy Intake; Europe; Female; Flux density; Food; Food intake; Global Nutrition; Health risk assessment; Heart diseases; HNE Nutrition and Disease; HNE Nutrition and Health over the Lifecourse; HNE Voeding en Gezondheid in de Levenscyclus; HNE Voeding en Ziekte; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nutrition; Nutrition and Disease; Nutrition research; Nutrition/Obesity; Obesity; Obesity - prevention & control; Population studies; Prospective Studies; Public Health and Epidemiology; Public Health and Epidemiology/Epidemiology; Regression analysis; Statistical analysis; Type 2 diabetes; VLAG; Voeding en Ziekte; Waist Circumference; Weight Gain; Weight reduction; Wereldvoeding; Womens health; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005339

Experimental studies show that a reduction in dietary energy density (ED) is associated with reduced energy intake and body weight. However, few observational studies have investigated the role of ED on long-term weight and waist circumference change. This population-based prospective cohort study included 89,432 participants from five European countries with mean age 53 years (range: 20-78 years) at baseline and were followed for an average of 6.5 years (range: 1.9-12.5 years). Participants were free of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes at baseline. ED was calculated as the energy intake (kcal) from foods divided by the weight (g) of foods. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations of ED with annual weight and waist circumference change. Mean ED was 1.7 kcal/g and differed across study centers. After adjusting for baseline anthropometrics, demographic and lifestyle factors, follow-up duration and energy from beverages, ED was not associated with weight change, but significantly associated with waist circumference change overall. For 1 kcal/g ED, the annual weight change was -42 g/year [95% confidence interval (CI): -112, 28] and annual waist circumference change was 0.09 cm/year [95% CI: 0.01, 0.18]. In participants with baseline BMI