(PTFS18-05-24) Associations of Walnut and Other Nut Consumption With Obesity in Young Men and Women: Results From the NHANES Survey

Objectives: To assess the associations among consumption of walnuts, other nuts, and no nuts and obesity and body fat composition in young adults.

Methods: Our study included 10,323 young adults (20-39 years) from eight waves of NHANES data (2003-2020). The associations among consumers of 1) walnuts only (WO - 3.8% of the sample), 2) walnuts with other nuts (WON - 5.5%), 3) other nut consumers (ON - 21.6%), and 4) no nut consumers (NN - 69.0%), with obesity prevalence and relative fat mass (RFM) were estimated using logistic and linear regressions stratified by sex. Sample-weighted data were used in all statistical analyses and controlled for demographic factors, energy intake, diet quality, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, and socioeconomic status.

Results: The mean daily intake of walnuts between groups was not different (4.23± 0.37 grams; p = 0.682). WON had the lowest prevalence of obesity (21.1%), followed by WO (25.4%) and ON (28.2%) while NN had the highest prevalence (35.4%, p < 0.001). Among young female adults, WO and WON consumers had lower odds of obesity compared to NN (OR=0.60, p = 0.029 for WO, and OR=0.58, p = 0.019 for WON). In both males and females, RFM was lower in the WON group compared to NN group (β=-1.24, p = 0.012 for males and β=-1.66, p = 0.001 for females).

Conclusions: For young adult females and males combining walnuts with other nuts has the strongest inverse association with measures of obesity.

Funding Sources: This study was funded by the California Walnut Commission.