Table 3.

Characteristics and outcomes of observational studies.

Study	Population	Investigation	Outcomes
Vernarelli and Lambert [31]	9551 adults	Association of flavonoid consumption and multiple markers for obesity including body mass index, waist circumference, and C-reactive protein	An inverse association between total flavonoid intake and BMI (body mass index) was observed (p-trend, 0.013) after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, physical activity, smoking status, poverty/income ratio, total alcohol intake, total fat intake, and dietary energy density
Cuenca-Garcia M et al. [29]	1458 adolescents	To determine whether chocolate consumption is associated with higher BMI and other markers of total and central body fat	Higher consumption of chocolate was associated with lower BMI, body fat estimated from skinfold and BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis), waist circumference
O’Neil et al. [62]	15,023 adults	To determine candy and chocolate consumption with nutrient intake, diet quality, weight status, and CVD (cardiovascular disease) risk factors	Chocolate consumers had lower weight, TG (triglycerides) and CRP (C-reactive protein) levels, and higher HDL-c (high-density lipoprotein) levels
Golomb et al. [32]	1018 adults	To examine the cross-sectional relationship of chocolate consumption frequency and BMI	Frequent chocolate intake linked to lower BMI
Greenberg and Buijsse [33]	15,732 and 12,830 participants at the first and second visit	To assess prospective and cross-sectional associations between chocolate intake and body weight	Prospective analysis shows more frequent consumption of chocolate was significantly associated with long-term greater weight gain in a dose-response manner; cross-sectional analysis yielded the opposite: an inverse association between chocolate intake and current BMI