Food & Nutrition

Arab Journal of Food & Nutrition
Intakes of energy, proximate nutrients and qualities of dietary fat and protein
correlated positively with the plasma leptin levels of the whole sample. Leptin also
correlated strongly with diet quality indicators, particularly fats and oils, meats and
bread and cereals. These correlations varied markedly with respect to their strength
and direction in the different BMI groups.
It may be concluded that plasma leptin levels in apparently normal women are
clearly associated with adiposity, that appears to be environmental and not genetic
obesity that results from the absence of leptin which is found in different levels in the
serum according to the difference in anthropometric indicators. The strength and
direction of this association is markedly affected by the different adiposity indices, as
well as by the dietary patterns and habits of women. It may also be concluded that the
wide range of plasma leptin values observed at different BMI points could be due the
effects of the dietary factors on leptin, particularly intakes of energy and proximate
nutrients and diet quality. However, the significance of the results of the present study
demands further investigations.
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Volume 11, No. 25, 2011
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