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  • Effectiveness of a Two-Year...
    Rumbo-Rodríguez, Lorena; Zaragoza-Martí, Ana; Sánchez-SanSegundo, Miriam; Ferrer-Cascales, Rosario; Laguna-Pérez, Ana; Hurtado-Sánchez, Jose A

    Nutrients, 11/2022, Volume: 14, Issue: 22
    Journal Article

    This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a two-year intervention based on the Mediterranean diet for the treatment of overweight and obesity in a sample of 51 older people from the Mediterranean city of Alicante (Spain). We also examined the effects of the intervention on psychological well-being. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received group nutritional education sessions, an individualized dietary-nutritional treatment based on a Mediterranean diet, and a physical activity program; the control group received Mediterranean nutritional education in a written format. The experimental group showed a greater loss in weight ( = 0.017) and percentage of fat mass ( = 0.049), and a greater reduction in body mass index (BMI) ( = 0.014) and waist circumference ( = 0.010). Both groups improved their depression scores using the PHQ-9; however, no significant improvement was seen in adherence to the Mediterranean diet (PREDIMED) and anxiety level (GAD-7). These results suggest that a two-year intervention based on the Mediterranean diet allows an older population with overweight or obesity to achieve greater weight loss and a greater decrease in BMI, waist circumference, and fat mass percentage. In relation to psychological well-being, depression levels improved at the end of said intervention.