Cross-sectional association of nut intake with adiposity in a Mediterranean population * P. Casas-Agustench a,b ,M.Bullo´ a,b , E. Ros b,c , J. Basora b,d , J.Salas-Salvado´ a,b, *, on behalf of the Nureta-PREDIMED investigators a Human Nutrition Unit, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus, IISPV, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Rovira i Virgili University, Reus, Spain b CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricio´n (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain c Lipid Clinic, Endocrinology and Nutrition Service, Institut d’Investigacions Biome`diques August Pi Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Hospital Clı ´nic, Barcelona, Spain d Direccio´d’Atencio´Prima`ria Tarragona-Reus, Institut Catala`de la Salut, Reus, Spain Received 31 August 2009; received in revised form 13 November 2009; accepted 20 November 2009 KEYWORDS BMI; Waist circumference; PREDIMED study; Dietary patterns; Nuts; Meat; Vegetables Abstract Background and aims: Nut intake has been inversely related to body mass index (BMI) in prospective studies. We examined dietary determinants of adiposity in an elderly Mediterranean population with customarily high nut consumption. Methods and results: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 847 subjects (56% women, mean age 67 years, BMI 29.7 kg/m 2 ) at high cardiovascular risk recruited into the PREDIMED study. Food consumption was evaluated by a validated semi-quantitative questionnaire, energy expenditure in physical activity by the Minnesota Leisure Time Activity questionnaire, and anthropometric variables by standard measurements. Nut intake decreased across quintiles of both BMI and waist circumference (P-trend <0.005; both). Alcohol ingestion was inversely related to BMI (P-trend Z 0.020) and directly to waist (P-trend Z 0.011), while meat intake was directly associated with waist circumference (P-trend Z 0.018). In fully adjusted multivar- iable models, independent dietary associations of BMI were the intake of nuts inversely (P Z 0.002) and that of meat and meat products directly (P Z 0.042). For waist circumference, independent dietary associations were intake of nuts (P Z 0.002) and vegetables (P Z 0.040), both inversely, and intake of meat and meat products directly (P Z 0.009). From the regression coefficients, it was predicted that BMI and waist circumference decreased by 0.78 kg/m 2 and 2.1 cm, respectively, for each serving of 30 g of nuts. Results were similar in men and women. Abbreviations: BMI, Body mass index; MedDiet, Mediterranean diet; CVD, Cardiovascular disease. * Support for research: This study was funded, in part, by the Spanish Ministry of Health (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Fondo de Inves- tigaciones Sanitarias) projects PI051839, G03/140 and RD06/0045. * Corresponding author. Human Nutrition Unit, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Rovira i Virgili University, Sant Llorenc ¸ 21, 43201 Reus, Spain. Tel.: þ34 977 759312; fax: þ34 977 759322. E-mail address: jordi.salas@urv.cat (J. Salas-Salvado ´). ARTICLE IN PRESS 0939-4753/$ - see front matter ª 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2009.11.010 available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nmcd Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases (2009) xx,1e8 + MODEL Please cite this article in press as: Casas-Agustench P, et al., Cross-sectional association of nut intake with adiposity in a Mediterranean population, Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis (2009), doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2009.11.010