Consumption of Dairy Products and Abdominal Obesity in Adults: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Epidemiologic Studies With GRADE Assessment

Abstract

CONTEXT: Abdominal obesity is a risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases, and dietary factors such as dairy products may play a role. However, findings on the association between dairy product consumption and abdominal obesity remain inconsistent. OBJECTIVE: The association between types of dairy product consumption and abdominal obesity in adults was evaluated. DATA SOURCES: A systematic search was conducted for observational studies from inception until February 2025 using electronic databases including Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, MEDLINE (PubMed), and Google Scholar. DATA EXTRACTION: This review comprised 28 observational studies (n = 6 cohort and 22 cross-sectional) that assessed the relationship between total dairy and/or milk, yogurt, or cheese consumption as exposures and abdominal obesity in adults as the outcome. DATA ANALYSIS: Combining 19 effect sizes from 18 observational investigations with 195 852 participants revealed that the highest (vs lowest) amount of total dairy consumption was significantly related to a 16 reduced odds of abdominal obesity in adults (odds ratio OR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.76-0.93). Dose-response analysis showed that each 160 g d-1 increment in total dairy consumption was linearly related to a significant 8% reduced odds of abdominal obesity (OR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.86-0.98). A U-shaped significant association in nonlinear dose-response analysis was found between total dairy consumption and abdominal obesity. Pooling effect sizes from 9 eligible studies with 47 778 participants showed that higher amounts of yogurt consumption was related to a 21% reduction in abdominal obesity (OR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.70-0.89). Stratified analysis based on dairy fat showed significant inverse relations between whole-fat dairy (OR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.54-0.97) and yogurt (OR = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.69-0.91) and central obesity. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this meta-analysis suggest dairy consumption, even whole-fat products, was associated with lower odds of abdominal obesity in adults. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: Prospero registration no. CRD42023468557.