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

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition 2010-12, Vol.92 (6), p.1484-1493
• Main Authors: Beunza, Juan-José, Toledo, Estefanía, Hu, Frank B, Bes-Rastrollo, Maira, Serrano-Martínez, Manuel, Sánchez-Villegas, Almudena, Martínez, J. Alfredo, Martínez-González, Miguel A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; body weight; Cohort Studies; Diet; Diet, Mediterranean; dietary surveys; disease prevention; eating habits; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; food frequency questionnaires; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health behavior; Humans; Male; Mediterranean diet; men; Middle Aged; Nutrition; Nutrition research; Obesity; Obesity - etiology; Obesity - prevention & control; Odds Ratio; overweight; Overweight - etiology; Overweight - prevention & control; Risk Factors; Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Weight control; Weight Gain; women
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29764

BACKGROUND: The Mediterranean dietary pattern might be a potential tool for the prevention of obesity. OBJECTIVES: 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 obesity. DESIGN: 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 5.7 ± 2.2 y. Diet was assessed at baseline with a 136-item, previously validated food-frequency questionnaire. Weight was assessed at baseline and biennially during follow-up. RESULTS: Participants with the lowest adherence ([less-than or equal to]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 highest average yearly weight gain, whereas participants with the highest (≥6 points) adherence exhibited the lowest weight gain (adjusted difference: -0.059 kg/y; 95% CI: -0.111, -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.