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Effect of dairy consumption on weight and body composition in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials

International Journal of Obesity volume 36, pages 1485–1493 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Although several observational and experimental studies have investigated the effect of dairy consumption on weight and body composition, results are inconsistent.

OBJECTIVE:

This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to summarize the published evidence from randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) regarding the effect of dairy consumption on weight, body fat mass, lean mass and waist circumference (WC) in adults.

DESIGN:

PubMed, ISI Web of Science, SCOPUS, Science Direct and EMBASE were searched from January 1960 to October 2011 for relevant English and non-English publications. Sixteen studies were selected for the systematic review and fourteen studies were included in meta-analysis.

RESULTS:

Our search led to 14, 12, 6 and 8 eligible RCTs that had data on weight, body fat mass, lean mass and WC, respectively. Overall, mean difference for the effect of dairy on body weight was −0.61 kg (95% confidence interval (CI): −1.29, 0.07, P=0.08). Increased dairy intake resulted in 0.72 kg (95% CI: −1.29, −0.14, P=0.01) greater reduction in fat mass, 0.58 kg (95% CI: 0.18, 0.99, P<0.01) gain in lean mass and 2.19 cm (95% CI: −3.42, −0.96, P-value <0.001) further reduction in WC than that in controls. Subgroup analysis revealed that increasing dairy intake without energy restriction in both intervention and control groups does not significantly affect weight, body fat mass, lean mass and WC; consumption of high-dairy weight loss diets led to 1.29 kg (95% CI: −1.98, −0.6, P<0.001) greater weight loss, 1.11 kg (95% CI: −1.75, −0.47, P=0.001) greater reduction in body fat mass, 0.72 kg (95% CI: 0.12, 1.32, P=0.02) gain in body lean mass and 2.43 cm (95% CI: −3.42, −1.44, P<0.001) additional reduction in WC compared with controls.

CONCLUSION:

Increased dairy consumption without energy restriction might not lead to a significant change in weight or body composition; whereas inclusion of dairy products in energy-restricted weight loss diets significantly affects weight, body fat mass, lean mass and WC compared with that in the usual weight loss diets.

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Change history

  • 11 December 2012

    This paper has been amended from an Original Article to a Review since Advance Online Publication

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    A S Abargouei & A Esmaillzadeh

  2. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    A S Abargouei & A Esmaillzadeh

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    M Janghorbani & M Salehi-Marzijarani

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  1. A S Abargouei
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  2. M Janghorbani
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Correspondence to A Esmaillzadeh.

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AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

ASA and AE contributed to the conception, design, statistical analyses, data interpretation and manuscript drafting. MJ and MSM contributed to the data analysis. All authors contributed to the approval of the final manuscript for submission.

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Abargouei, A., Janghorbani, M., Salehi-Marzijarani, M. et al. Effect of dairy consumption on weight and body composition in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials. Int J Obes 36, 1485–1493 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.269

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