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Epidemiology and Population Health

Association between dietary scores and 13-year weight change and obesity risk in a French prospective cohort

International Journal of Obesity volume 36, pages 1455–1462 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:

The relationship between diet quality and development of obesity is complex and unresolved. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the predictive value of six different dietary scores on both relative weight change and the risk of obesity after 13 years of follow-up in adults aged 45 years and older.

SUBJECTS/METHODS:

Six scores reflecting adherence to different nutritional recommendations (the French Programme National Nutrition Santé-Guideline Score (PNNS-GS), the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Index (DGAI), the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I), the Mediterranean Diet Scale (MDS), the relative Mediterranean Diet Score (rMED) and the Mediterranean Style Dietary Pattern Score (MSDPS)) were estimated in 3151 participants in the French SU.VI.MAX (SUpplémentation en VItamines et Minéraux AntioXydants) study. Associations of dietary scores with 13-year weight change were assessed through multivariate linear regression models, and obesity risk was analyzed with logistic regression, providing odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS:

Except for the MSDPS, higher scores, that is, better adherence to nutritional guidelines or to a Mediterranean diet, were associated with lower weight gain in men (all P-value for trend <0.05). In addition, among men, ORs for becoming obese after 13 years associated with a 1 s.d. increase in dietary scores ranged from 0.63, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.78 for DGAI to 0.72, 95% CI: 0.59, 0.88 for MDS. These associations were weaker or not statistically significant in women.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, the six dietary scores predicted obesity risk equally well. Among French adults, strong adherence to dietary guidelines appears to be protective with regard to weight gain and obesity, especially in men.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the scientists who helped to carry out the SU.VI.MAX study and the teams that assisted in fieldwork. This work was supported by grants from Région Ile-de-France.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutritional Epidemiology Research Unit, U557 Inserm, U1125 INRA, CNAM, University of Paris 13, CRNH IdF, SMBH, Bobigny, France

    C Lassale, L Fezeu, V A Andreeva, S Hercberg & E Kesse-Guyot

  2. Department of Public Health, Avicenne Hospital, University of Paris, Paris, France

    S Hercberg

  3. George Institute for International Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    A-P Kengne

  4. Department of Nutrition, Ambroise Paré Hospital (AP-HP), University of Versailles St-Quentin, Boulogne-Billancourt, France

    S Czernichow

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  1. C Lassale
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Correspondence to C Lassale.

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Lassale, C., Fezeu, L., Andreeva, V. et al. Association between dietary scores and 13-year weight change and obesity risk in a French prospective cohort. Int J Obes 36, 1455–1462 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.264

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