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

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 ( 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.