Mediterranean Diet May Modestly Reduce Risk for Obesity-Related Cancers

THURSDAY, Feb. 27, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is associated with a modest reduction in the risk for obesity-related cancers (ORCs), according to a study published online Feb. 25 in JAMA Network Open.

Inmaculada Aguilera-Buenosvinos, Ph.D., from the University of Navarra in Spain, and colleagues examined the association between adherence to the MedDiet and the risk for ORCs. The analysis included data from 450,111 participants (mean age, 51.1 years) in the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition study.

The researchers found that during a median 14.9 years of follow-up, 4.9 percent of participants experienced an ORC (rates, 0.053, 0.049, and 0.043 per person-year in the low, medium, and high MedDiet adherence groups, respectively). Compared with low MedDiet adherence (0 to 3 points), participants with high adherence to the MedDiet (7 to 9 points) had a lower risk for ORC (hazard ratio, 0.94). A similar inverse association was seen for participants with medium adherence (4 to 6 points) compared with low adherence. 

“Our mediation analysis did not show waist-to-hip ratio or body mass index as mediators between MedDiet and ORC risk, possibly due to the low prevalence of obesity in our cohort and the distinct contribution of general versus abdominal obesity to metabolic disruptions,” the authors write.

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