Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Measured through Medi-Lite Score and Obesity: A Retrospective Study

We recently developed and validated a questionnaire to measure adherence to the Mediterranean diet, called Medi‐Lite. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of the Medi‐ Lite adherence score in relation to obesity status. A total of 208 patients who attended the Clinical Nutrition Unit of Careggi University Hospital, Florence, were included in this retrospective analysis. Of them, 126 (45%) had abdominal obesity (110 F; 16 M). The mean adherence score, calculated through the Medi‐Lite questionnaire, was 9.5 ± 2.2, with significantly (p < 0.001) lower values in patients with abdominal obesity (8.9 ± 1.9) than those without abdominal obesity (10 ± 2.2). Logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and sex showed that the Medi‐Lite score determined significant protection (−28%) against the risk of abdominal obesity for every one‐unit increase in the total score (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.63–0.82; p < 0.001). Looking for cut‐off values that denote increased risk of having abdominal obesity, we observed that patients who scored ≤9 had a significantly increased risk (OR 3.21, 95% CI 1.91–5.39; p < 0.001). Adherence to the Mediterranean diet assessed through the Medi‐Lite score was found to be associated with abdominal obesity. In particular, patients who reported a score of ≤9 had a 3.5‐fold times higher risk of having abdominal obesity than those who scored >9.