Effectiveness of Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet in the Management of Overweight Women: The Prospective Interventional Cohort Study

Abstract

Evidence indicates that unhealthy eating habits constitute multilevel obstacles threatening health and well-being. Studies suggest that consumer choices have turned irremovably towards Western diets. The Mediterranean diet (MD) is considered one of the most effective in preventing and treating overweight and obesity, yet its results and associations are ambiguous. This explanatory research aims to examine the effect of the MD on anthropometric and biochemical variables in 181 females from an Eastern European country. The sample was divided into three distinct clusters based on age (tricenarian, quadragenarian, and quinquagenarian). Anthropometric and biochemical examinations in the three-month MD program plan failed to provide convincing evidence of the benefits of the MD on selected integrands. However, total body fat (FATP) values between groups showed a significant difference (p ≤ 0.032) between groups A and C (p ≤ 0.029), which can be attributed to the age of the cohort (30-39 vs. 50-60 years). Values in groups A and B (p ≤ 0.001) and C and A (p ≤ 0.001) were significant between the cohorts but did not indicate any changes in visceral fat (VFATL) in the individual groups. The presented findings can have implications for further investigation and the development of more comprehensive instruments, incorporating critical add-on constituents that will be appropriate to monitor, evaluate, and predict body weight management in experimentation.