Chocolate-candy consumption and three-year weight gain among postmenopausal U.S. women

OBJECTIVE—To test the hypothesis that greater chocolate-candy intake is associated with more weight gain in postmenopausal women. DESIGN AND METHODS—Prospective cohort study involving 107,243 post-menopausal American women aged 50–79 years (mean=60.7) at enrolment in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), with three-year follow up. Chocolate-candy consumption was assessed by food frequency AUTHOR FOR CORRESPONDENCE: James Greenberg, Ph.D., Department of Health & Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Tel: 718-951-5000, ext 2736. Fax: 718-543-6223. [email protected]. Author Contributions JEM, MAW and CAT collected data. JAG reviewed the literature, provided the initial design of the study, analyzed the data, interpreted results, and drafted and edited the manuscript. JEM, BB, LW and LT helped improve the design of the study. JEM, BB, MLN, LW and MEW helped interpret results. All authors were involved in critical review of the paper and had final approval of the submitted and published versions. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The only author with a disclosure is Dr. JoAnn Manson. She and colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School are recipients of funding from Mars Symbioscience for an investigator-initiated randomized trial of cocoa flavanols and cardiovascular disease. HHS Public Access Author manuscript Obesity (Silver Spring). Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 September 01. Published in final edited form as: Obesity (Silver Spring). 2015 March ; 23(3): 677–683. doi:10.1002/oby.20983. A uhor M anscript