Longitudinal association between dairy consumption and changes of body weight and waist circumference: the Framingham Heart Study

Background: Dairy foods are nutrient dense and may be protective against long-term weight gain. Objective: We aimed to examine the longitudinal association between dairy consumption and annualized changes in weight and waist circumference (WC) in adults. Methods: Members of the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort who participated in the fifth through eighth study examinations (1991–2008) were included in these analyses (3440 participants with 11 683 observations). At each exam, dietary intake was assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire, and weight and WC were assessed following standardized procedures. Repeated measures models were used for the longitudinal analyses of annualized weight and waist circumference changes, adjusting for time-varying or invariant covariates. Results: On average, participants gained weight and WC during follow-up. Dairy intake increased across exams. After adjusting for demographic and lifestyle factors (including diet quality), participants who consumed ⩾3 servings per day of total dairy had 0.10 kg (±0.04) smaller annualized increment of weight ( P trend =0.04) than those consuming