Abstract
We recently developed and validated a questionnaire to measure adherence to the Mediterranean diet, called Medi-Lite. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of the Medi-Lite adherence score in relation to obesity status. A total of 208 patients who attended the Clinical Nutrition Unit of Careggi University Hospital, Florence, were included in this retrospective analysis. Of them, 126 (45%) had abdominal obesity (110 F; 16 M). The mean adherence score, calculated through the Medi-Lite questionnaire, was 9.5 ± 2.2, with significantly (p < 0.001) lower values in patients with abdominal obesity (8.9 ± 1.9) than those without abdominal obesity (10 ± 2.2). Logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and sex showed that the Medi-Lite score determined significant protection (−28%) against the risk of abdominal obesity for every one-unit increase in the total score (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.63–0.82; p < 0.001). Looking for cut-off values that denote increased risk of having abdominal obesity, we observed that patients who scored ≤9 had a significantly increased risk (OR 3.21, 95% CI 1.91–5.39; p < 0.001). Adherence to the Mediterranean diet assessed through the Medi-Lite score was found to be associated with abdominal obesity. In particular, patients who reported a score of ≤9 had a 3.5-fold times higher risk of having abdominal obesity than those who scored >9.
Highlights
The Mediterranean diet is globally recognised as a healthy dietary pattern for the maintenance of health status and for the prevention of major chronic degenerative diseases [1]
There is a lack of information on the possible association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet analysed through the Medi-Lite score and the presence of a pathological state such as obesity
In this retrospective analysis of an unselected group of patients who underwent a clinical evaluation at our Clinical Nutrition Unit, we demonstrated that the Medi-Lite adherence score was significantly associated with the presence of clinical parameters suggestive of obesity status
Summary
The Mediterranean diet is globally recognised as a healthy dietary pattern for the maintenance of health status and for the prevention of major chronic degenerative diseases [1]. In order to identify a method for estimating adherence to this dietary model, research in recent decades has focused on summarising the diet through a single index or score resulting from the combination of different food components [2]. The Medi-Lite questionnaire was validated in 2017 [4], and several studies using the questionnaire in different populations have recently been published [5,6,7,8]. Despite the recognition of the validity of Medi-Lite in the scientific literature, some problems remain in the identification of cut-off values associated with the risk profile of the patient who undergoes the questionnaire. There is a lack of information on the possible association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet analysed through the Medi-Lite score and the presence of a pathological state such as obesity
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