HOW DIFFERENT IS THE DIET OF OBESE PATIENTS COMPARED TO THE NORMAL WEIGHT PEOPLE?

Background and objectives: According to World Obesity Federation, in 2025 there will be 2.7 billion adults suffering from overweight and obesity, up from 2 billion in 2014. We need to see how different is the diet of obese patients compared to normal weight subjects in order to make adequate nutritional advises to obtain or to maintain a healthy weight and diet. Methods: A sample of 199 subjects, 54 normal weight patients and 145 obese people were investigated. Anthropometric and paraclinic data, biological samples and nutritional assessment were made. Using a 7-day food self-recorded questionnaire, we evaluated the nutritional content of food intake: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, D, E, folic acid, and minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, and sodium. We measured resting metabolic rate using the indirect calorimetry. Results: As we expected, the differences between the two samples were regarding the weight, body mass index, body fat, percent of body fat, the resting metabolic rate, abdominal circumference and blood pressure. We found plasma HDL cholesterol in normal ranges more frequently in patients with normal body weight compared to obese subjects (78.79% vs 58.47%, p = 0.03). In 3.81 % of obese patients we found a small, significant, negative correlation between the HDL cholesterol plasma levels and the intake of iron from diet. All the patients had a high fat, high protein, low carb diet, without significant differences between the two groups. Regarding the vitamins, the only significant differences were about the mean intake of B1 (thiamine) and B3 (niacin) vitamins. Obese subjects consumed higher amounts of phosphorus, iron, copper and selenium. Conclusions: None of the patients, neither normal-weight nor obese, had a balanced diet regarding the intake of macro-nutrients, vitamins and minerals. There are some significant differences between the groups regarding micro-nutrients but not regarding macro-nutrients. We need to pay more attention to nutritional recommendation in both normal weight and obese people in order to not exceed the recommended daily doses.