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Aims: To investigate the potential interaction between genetic background and adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, macronutrient intake and physical activity with regard to obesity in a sample of healthy adults., Design: Cross-sectional epidemiological study including 392 adults living in the Mediterranean basin. Data including FFQ, IPAQ and sociodemographic questionnaires were collected via face-to-face interviews. Anthropometric measures were performed and saliva swab for DNA extraction. Two MD scores were calculated to assess the adherence of the population to this pattern. Three single nucleotid polymorphisms (SNPs) related to obesity were studied: FTO, MC4R, MTHFR., Findings: FTO rs9939609 is significantly associated with WHR, and MC4R with all phenotypic traits linked to obesity (BMI, WC and WHR). However, MTHFR polymorphism didn't show any significant correlation with anthropometric parameters. Adherence to the MD and high level of physical activity do not seem to protect against the occurrence of overweight and obesity in genetically predisposed subjects., Conclusion: Classic lifestyle interventions are insufficient in addressing the challenging obesity pandemic. Identifying more genetic variants and understanding their interaction with lifestyle will improve the clinical outcome of these variants for risk prediction and personalized nutrition and medical therapy. Also, the MD should undergo a redefinition adapted to each country on the Mediterranean basin in order to organize public health measures for its comeback., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Studies on the relative impact of body mass index in women in childbearing age and gestational weight gain on neonatal outcomes are scarce in the Middle East. Objectives: The primary objective of this research was to assess the impact of maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) on neonatal outcomes. The effect of maternal age and folic acid supplementation before and during pregnancy was also examined. Subjects and methods: This is a retrospective cross sectional observational study of 1000 full term deliveries of women enrolled thru the National Collaborative Perinatal Neonatal Network, in Lebanon. Maternal characteristics such as age, BMI and GWG and neonatal outcomes such as weight, height, head circumference and Apgar score were the primary studied variables in this study. Total maternal weight gain were compared to the guidelines depicted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Results: The negative outcomes of newborns such as lean body weight and macrosomia were significantly present in women who gained respectively below or above the IOM’s cut-off points. Pregestational body mass index influenced significantly the infants’ birth weight, in both the underweight and obese categories. Birth height, head circumference and Apgar score were not influenced by pregestational body mass index or gestational weight gain. No significant associations were found between maternal age and pregestational body mass index and gestational weight gain. Conclusion: Studies evaluating the impact of weight before and during pregnancy on neonatal outcomes and anthropometrics measurements are lacking in the Middle East. Our results highlight the importance of nutritional counseling in order to shed the extra weights before conceiving and monitor weight gain to avoid the negative impact on feto-maternal health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]