Dietary patterns, Mediterranean diet and obesity in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this work was to explore associations between a priori and a posteriori dietary patterns and obesity indices in a sample of postmenopausal women.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

The present cross-sectional study involved 481 postmenopausal women, aged 57.7 ± 7.4 years (range 32-77 years), recruited consecutively from the Menopause Clinic of a major public hospital. Basic demographic information, medical history and lifestyle data including physical activity were collected from study participants. Dietary intake was assessed through a validated food frequency questionnaire. A posteriori dietary patterns were identified using Principal Component Analysis. Adherence to an a priori dietary pattern, the Mediterranean dietary pattern, was evaluated through the Mediterranean Dietary Score (MedDietScore).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio.

RESULTS

Overweight and obese women constituted 39.5% and 29.1% of the sample respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the Dietary Component 2 (characterized by high consumption of unrefined cereals and legumes and low consumption of refined cereals) was negatively associated with BMI (beta = -0.104, p = 0.057), waist circumference (beta = -0.120, p = 0.019) and waist-to-height ratio (beta = -0.105, p = 0.038). Another dietary pattern, characterized by high consumption of red meat and potatoes and low consumption of nuts and coffee/tea, was positively associated with ΒΜΙ (beta = 0.191, p < 0.001), waist circumference (beta = 0.225, p < 0.001) and waist-to-height ratio (beta = -0.237, p < 0.001). The associations were independent of age, years since menopause, energy intake and physical exercise. Negative associations were also found between the MedDietScore and the obesity indices, which became, however, non-significant when implausible energy reports were excluded from the analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that different dietary patterns are positively or negatively associated with obesity in postmenopausal women. Early interventions targeting dietary habits are of major importance for promoting health in this age group.