The Regular Consumption of Nuts Is Associated with a Lower Prevalence of Abdominal Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in Older People from the North of Spain

Gloria Cubas-Basterrechea, Iñaki Elío, Sandra Sumalla-Cano, Silvia Aparicio-Obregón, Carolina Teresa González-Antón and Pedro Muñoz-Cacho
Additional contact information
Gloria Cubas-Basterrechea: Dietetic Section, Hospital Universitario “Marqués de Valdecilla”, 39008 Santander, Spain
Iñaki Elío: Research Group on Foods, Nutritional Biochemistry and Health, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Sandra Sumalla-Cano: Research Group on Foods, Nutritional Biochemistry and Health, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Silvia Aparicio-Obregón: Research Group on Foods, Nutritional Biochemistry and Health, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Carolina Teresa González-Antón: NEXO Multidisciplinar Center, Department of Nutrition and Dietetic, 04004 Almeria, Spain
Pedro Muñoz-Cacho: Teaching Department of Primary Care Management, Cantabrian Health Service, IDIVAL, 39011 Santander, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Background: The aim of this study was to relate the adherence to nut consumption (30 g) three or more days per week to the prevalence of abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in an elderly population from the north of Spain. Methods: The study consists of an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational study conducted in 556 non-institutionalised individuals between 65 and 79 years of age. To define the consumption recommendation of nuts the indication of the questionnaire MEDAS-14 was followed. The diagnosis of MetS was conducted using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Results: In 264 subjects aged 71.9 (SD: ±4.2) years old, 39% of whom were men, the adherence to nut consumption recommendations was 40.2%. Of these individuals, 79.5% had abdominal obesity. The prevalence of MetS was 40.2%, being 47.6% in men and 35.4% in women ( p < 0.05). A nut consumption lower than recommended was associated with a 19% higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (Prevalence Ratio: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.03−1.37; p < 0.05) and a 61% higher prevalence of MetS (Prevalence Ratio: 1.61; 95% CI: 1.16−2.25; p = 0.005) compared to a consumption of ≥3 servings per week. Conclusion: An inverse relationship was established between nut consumption and the prevalence of abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: elderly; nuts; metabolic syndrome X; aging; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1256/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1256/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1256-:d:731444

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().