Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with lower abdominal adiposity in European men and women.
Given the lack of consistent evidence of the relationship between Mediterranean dietary patterns and body fat, we assessed the cross-sectional association between adherence to a modified Mediterranean diet, BMI, and waist circumference (WC). A total of 497,308 individuals (70.7% women) aged 25-70 y from 10 European countries participated in this study. Diet was assessed at baseline using detailed validated country-specific questionnaires, and anthropometrical measurements were collected using standardized procedures. The association between the degree of adherence to the modified-Mediterranean Diet Score (mMDS) (including high consumption of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts, cereals, fish and seafood, and unsaturated:saturated fatty acids ratio; moderate alcohol intake; and low consumption of meat and meat products and dairy products) and BMI (kg.m(-2)) or WC (cm) was modeled through mixed-effects linear regression, controlling for potential confounders. Overall, the mMDS was not significantly associated with BMI. Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was significantly associated with lower WC, for a given BMI, in both men (-0.09; 95% CI -0.14 to -0.04) and women (-0.06; 95% CI -0.10 to -0.01). The association was stronger in men (-0.20; 95% CI -0.23 to -0.17) and women (-0.17; 95% CI -0.21 to -0.13) from Northern European countries. Despite the observed heterogeneity among regions, results of this study suggest that adherence to a modified Mediterranean diet, high in foods of vegetable origin and unsaturated fatty acids, is associated with lower abdominal adiposity measured by WC in European men and women.
Romaguera
Dora
D
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK. d.romaguera-bosch@imperial.ac.uk
Norat
Teresa
T
Mouw
Traci
T
May
Anne M
AM
Bamia
Christina
C
Slimani
Nadia
N
Travier
Noemie
N
Besson
Herve
H
Luan
Jian'an
J
Wareham
Nick
N
Rinaldi
Sabina
S
Couto
Elisabeth
E
Clavel-Chapelon
Françoise
F
Boutron-Ruault
Marie-Christine
MC
Cottet
Vanessa
V
Palli
Domenico
D
Agnoli
Claudia
C
Panico
Salvatore
S
Tumino
Rosario
R
Vineis
Paolo
P
Agudo
Antonio
A
Rodriguez
Laudina
L
Sanchez
Maria Jose
MJ
Amiano
Pilar
P
Barricarte
Aurelio
A
Huerta
Jose Maria
JM
Key
Timothy J
TJ
Spencer
Elisabeth A
EA
Bueno-de-Mesquita
H Bas
HB
Büchner
Frederike L
FL
Orfanos
Philippos
P
Naska
Androniki
A
Trichopoulou
Antonia
A
Rohrmann
Sabine
S
Kaaks
Rudolf
R
Bergmann
Manuela
M
Boeing
Heiner
H
Johansson
Ingegerd
I
Hellstrom
Veronica
V
Manjer
Jonas
J
Wirfält
Elisabet
E
Uhre Jacobsen
Marianne
M
Overvad
Kim
K
Tjonneland
Anne
A
Halkjaer
Jytte
J
Lund
Eiliv
E
Braaten
Toni
T
Engeset
Dragun
D
Odysseos
Andreani
A
Riboli
Elio
E
Peeters
Petra H M
PH
D050153:Abdominal Fat; D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055105:Waist Circumference