Abstract
Folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 intake can be important regulators for obesity development. Thus, we investigated the possible association between the intake of these vitamins and the excess body weight or obesity prevalence in the participants of the Cohort of Universities in Minas Gerais (CUME project). This study analyzed cross-sectional data of 2695 graduates and postgraduates from universities in the state of Minas Gerais (801 men, 1894 women, ages 36.2 ± 9.4). The first step consisted of collecting data online, and the second step consisted of blood collecting in the subsample living in the city of Viçosa and its region (Minas Gerais). Excess body weight and obesity prevalence were 38.1% and 10.1%, respectively. Inadequate intake of folate, B6, and B12 were 12, 6.3, and 11.1%, respectively. Beans/lentils and French bread presented the highest contribution to folate intake (23.45% and 10.01%, respectively). Those individuals in the third tertile for folate intake (≥511.12 μg/d) had a lower excess body weight [prevalence ratio (PR): 0.79, confidence interval (CI): 0.71–0.8] and obesity prevalence (PR: 0.60, CI: 0.45–0.78). These associations were maintained when the sample was categorized by sex. In addition, serum folate was positively associated with dietary folate (p for trend = 0.032) and negatively associated with serum homocysteine (p for trend = 0.003) in the subsample. Dietary folate intake was negatively associated with excess body weight and obesity in CUME participants, indicating the relevance of this vitamin dietary assessment.
Highlights
Obesity is a serious public health problem related to other chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCD) [1,2] in both developed and developing countries [1]
We investigated the association of these B-vitamins with excess body weight and obesity in participants of the Cohort of Universities in Minas Gerais (CUME project)
Another study had shown a negative association of dietary folate with body mass index (BMI) [5,11] and waist circumference [12] in children as well as negative association between serum folate and BMI
Summary
Obesity is a serious public health problem related to other chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCD) [1,2] in both developed and developing countries [1]. Obesity is a polygenic condition that interacts with external factors (e.g., physical inactivity and inadequate eating patterns) [4] and epigenetic changes (e.g., DNA methylation) [5,6]. Several dietary factors may be closely related to adipogenesis regulation through methylation modulation [4]. In this sense, folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 play important roles in the DNA methylation pathway [7] because they participate in the carbon cycle with donations of methyl groups and Nutrients 2019, 11, 518; doi:10.3390/nu11030518 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients. Studies have shown an increase in DNA methylation by folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 supplementation [9,10]. Most of the studies related to B vitamins intake and body composition are performed in children [5,11,12]
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