Dietary calcium intake and overweight: An epidemiologic view

Objective We evaluated the relation between overweight and calcium intake in adults living in the municipality of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods This was a cross-sectional population-based study on a sample of 1459 adults that was obtained by multistage cluster sampling. Dietary intake was measured by the 24-h recall method. Poissonʹs and linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relation between overweight and quartiles of calcium intake adjusted for energy. Results The prevalence of overweight was 43.1% and the average adjusted calcium intake was 448.6 mg. In the linear regression analyses, the regression coefficient for adjusted calcium was significant and negative (P = 0.019, β1 = −0.0001). Although evaluated by quartiles, the prevalence ratio for overweight in the first quartile of calcium intake was 1.24 (95% confidence interval 1.00–1.54) and that in the second quartile was 1.24 (95% confidence interval 1.03–1.49). Conclusion In the present study, calcium intake showed a significant negative association with body mass index.