BMJ, doi:10.1136/bmj.39561.501007.BE (published 29 May 2008)

Research

Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of developing diabetes: prospective cohort study

¹ Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Medical School-Clinica Universitaria, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, ² Department of Preventive Medicine and Quality Management, Hospital Virgen del Camino, Pamplona, Spain, ³ Department of Endocrinology, Hospital of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

Objective To assess the relation between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and the incidence of diabetes among initially healthy participants.

Design Prospective cohort study with estimates of relative risk adjusted for sex, age, years of university education, total energy intake, body mass index, physical activity, sedentary habits, smoking, family history of diabetes, and personal history of hypertension.

Setting Spanish university department.

Participants 13 380 Spanish university graduates without diabetes at baseline followed up for a median of 4.4 years.

Main outcome measures Dietary habits assessed at baseline with a validated 136 item food frequency questionnaire and scored on a nine point index. New cases of diabetes confirmed through medical reports and an additional detailed questionnaire posted to those who self reported a new diagnosis of diabetes by a doctor during follow-up. Confirmed cases of type 2 diabetes.

Results Participants who adhered closely to a Mediterranean diet had a lower risk of diabetes. The incidence rate ratios adjusted for sex and age were 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.19 to 0.87) for those with moderate adherence (score 3-6) and 0.17 (0.04 to 0.75) for those with the highest adherence (score 7-9) compared with those with low adherence (score <3). In the fully adjusted analyses the results were similar. A two point increase in the score was associated with a 35% relative reduction in the risk of diabetes (incidence rate ratio 0.65, 0.44 to 0.95), with a significant inverse linear trend (P=0.04) in the multivariate analysis.

Conclusion Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Related Articles

Modified Mediterranean diet and survival: EPIC-elderly prospective cohort study

Antonia Trichopoulou, Philippos Orfanos, Teresa Norat, Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Marga C Ocké, Petra HM Peeters, Yvonne T van der Schouw, Heiner Boeing, Kurt Hoffmann, Paolo Boffetta, Gabriele Nagel, Giovanna Masala, Vittorio Krogh, Salvatore Panico, Rosario Tumino, Paolo Vineis, Christina Bamia, Androniki Naska, Vassiliki Benetou, Pietro Ferrari, Nadia Slimani, Guillem Pera, Carmen Martinez-Garcia, Carmen Navarro, Miguel Rodriguez-Barranco, Miren Dorronsoro, Elizabeth A Spencer, Timothy J Key, Sheila Bingham, Kay-Tee Khaw, Emmanuelle Kesse, Francoise Clavel-Chapelon, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Goran Berglund, Elisabet Wirfalt, Goran Hallmans, Ingegerd Johansson, Anne Tjonneland, Anja Olsen, Kim Overvad, Heidi H Hundborg, Elio Riboli, and Dimitrios Trichopoulos
BMJ 2005 330: 991. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Diet and overall survival in elderly people

Antonia Trichopoulou, Antigone Kouris-Blazos, Mark L Wahlqvist, Charalambos Gnardellis, Pagona Lagiou, Evangelos Polychronopoulos, Tonia Vassilakou, Loren Lipworth, and Dimitrios Trichopoulos
BMJ 1995 311: 1457-1460. [Abstract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Low number of new cases of diabetes.

Edoardo Cervoni
bmj.com, 31 May 2008 [Full text]

Physical activity in the SUN cohort participants

Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez
bmj.com, 1 Jun 2008 [Full text]