Changes in intake of fruits and vegetables in relation to risk of obesity and weight gain among middle-aged women

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To examine the changes in intake of fruits and vegetables in relation to risk of obesity and weight gain among middle-aged women. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with 12 y of follow-up conducted in the Nurses' Health Study. SUBJECTS: A total of 74 063 female nurses aged 38-63 y, who were free of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes at baseline in 1984. MEASUREMENTS: Dietary information was collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and body weight and height were self-reported. RESULTS: During the 12-y follow-up, participants tended to gain weight with aging, but those with the largest increase in fruit and vegetable intake had a 24% of lower risk of becoming obese (BMIZ30 kg/m 2 ) compared with those who had the largest decrease in intake after adjustment for age, physical activity, smoking, total energy intake, and other lifestyle variables (relative risk (RR), 0.76; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.69-0.86; P for trend o0.0001). For major weight gain (Z25 kg), women with the largest increase in intake of fruits and vegetables had a 28% lower risk compared to those in the other extreme group (RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.55-0.93; P ¼ 0.01). Similar results were observed for changes in intake of fruits and vegetables when analyzed separately. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that increasing intake of fruits and vegetables may reduce long-term risk of obesity and weight gain among middle-aged women.

Associations between active commuting, body fat, and body mass index: population based, cross sectional study in the United Kingdom

“…Instead, number of days per week on which vegetables were consumed was included as an indicator of diet quality, as a significant association was found with both outcome variables, and vegetable consumption may be a better proxy for dietary quality and energy intake than bread or milk choices. 35 However, vegetable intake frequency was not significant in the fully adjusted regression model for either BMI or percentage body fat.…”

Impacts of a farmers’ market incentive programme on fruit and vegetable access, purchase and consumption

“…About one-third of US adults and 17 % of children and adolescents are obese (1,2) . Epidemiological studies indicate an association between increased fruit and vegetable consumption and reduced long-term obesity risk (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9) as well as reduced risk of heart disease and some cancers (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) . Nevertheless, relatively few Americans consume the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables (16,17) .…”

Incentivizing Fruit and Vegetable Purchasers at Fresh Markets in Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans

“…1 However, national surveys conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate only 33% of adults meet the fruit and 27% meet vegetable consumption recommendations. 2 Improving fruit and vegetable consumption among adults has become a national health priority not only in the interest of promoting basic nutritional health, but also because of the demonstrated link between their consumption and risk for chronic disease [3][4][5] and some cancers. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Individual behaviors and preferences are the factors most commonly used to predict lower fruit and vegetable consumption.…”