FIGURE 2.

Association between dietary score quintiles using the prevalent diet, dietary change, and lagged-change analyses and long-term weight gain among 117,992 US women and men in 3 prospective cohorts. In a multivariable adjusted analysis, the dietary score from the Nurses’ Health Study (n = 48,449), Nurses’ Health Study II (n = 48,071), and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (n = 21,472) was associated with a 4-y weight change over 16–24 y of follow-up. The dietary score was derived by totaling the ordinal values for the quintiles of change or prevalent intake for each dietary habit in ascending order (1 to 5) or descending order (5 to 1) for habits that were inversely or positively associated with weight gain, respectively. The sum of changes (panels B and C) or sum of prevalent levels (panel A) was then calculated to arrive at a dietary score of which a higher value was associated with a diet favoring weight loss. Data are β coefficients from multivariable linear regression representing weight change (lb/4 y ± 95% CI). Panel A shows the association between the prevalent dietary score at the start of each 4-y period and weight change during the same 4-y period; panel B shows the relation between the dietary change score and weight change during the same 4-y period; and panel C shows the association between the dietary change score and weight change during the next 4-y period. Findings were adjusted for age, baseline BMI at the start of each 4-y period, sleep duration, smoking status, physical activity, amount of time spent watching television, and alcohol use. To convert pounds to kilograms, multiply by 0.45. HPFS, Health Professionals Follow-Up Study; NHS, Nurses’ Health Study; NHS II, Nurses’ Health Study II; ref, reference.