**3. Results**

#### *3.1. Sample Characteristics*

The present analysis included 352 participants, with 50% being women. Details of the sample characteristics are shown in Table 1.

**Table 1.** Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the total sample, and stratified by gender ( *N* = 352).



**Table 1.** *Cont.*

Abbreviations: BMI: body mass index; WC: waist circumference; WHTR: waist to height ratio; HSG: handgrip strength; Kcal/d: Calories per day; Calories/kg BW: Calories per kg body weight; Protein/kg BW: Proteins per kg body weight. Numeric variables are represented as median (interquartile range). Categorical variables are represented as *N* (percentage).

> The sample accounted for 15.1% frail individuals, with more women being classified as frail compared to men: 35 (19.9%) and 18 (10.2%), respectively. In addition, women had more age-related conditions compared to men and more women than men had a low educational level.

> Median BMI for the total sample was 28.2 kg/m2, with 60.5% of the sample having a BMI > 27 kg/m2. Women had a significantly higher median BMI 29.7 (25.9–35.1) kg/m<sup>2</sup> compared to men 27.5 (24.3–31.2) kg/m2. Median WHTR was also significantly higher among women. With 63.9% of the sample having a normal nutritional status as evaluated by MNA-SF, no difference was found between nutritional statuses among gender.

> Median energy intake of the participants was 1824 Kcal/d. Energy, carbohydrates, and protein intakes were lower in women compared to men. Median protein intake per kg body weight (g/kg BW) was also lower in women (0.85 g/kg BW) compared to men (0.94 g/kg BW). Caloric intake per kg body weight (Kcal/kg BW) was nonetheless not different between the two sexes.

#### *3.2. Dietary Patterns*

As shown in Table 2, three dietary patterns were identified in the total sample. The first, named Westernized-type dietary pattern (WDP), followed by 11.9% of the participants (29 men and 13 women), was characterized by the highest caloric intake, consumption of refined flour products, sugar and sweets, dairy products, as well as processed and saturated fats and the lowest olive, seeds, and oleaginous fruits and whole cereal products intake. The second pattern, named high intake/Mediterranean-type dietary pattern (HI-MEDDP), adopted by 23% of participants (21 men and 60 women), was characterized by a relatively high caloric intake, a higher consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes than the other 2 DPs, and the highest consumption of foods rich in monounsaturated fats. Median consumption of olive, seeds, and oleaginous fruits in the HI-MEDDP group was above nine teaspoons of oil equivalent per day. This pattern also had the lowest consumption of refined flour products, and the highest consumption of whole cereal products. Finally, the third pattern, named moderate intake/Mediterranean-type dietary pattern (MOD-MEDDP), represented the highest proportion of our sample (65.1% of the sample, with 126 men and 106 women), and was characterized by a diversified and balanced DP. Consumption of most foods in this pattern was either intermediate or lower compared to the other two patterns, with the lowest consumption of sweets and sugar among the three patterns.


**Table 2.** Consumption of predefined food categories according to dietary patterns for the overall sample. *N* = 352.

Abbreviations: WDP: Westernized dietary pattern; HI-MEDDP: high-intake Mediterranean dietary pattern; MOD-Med: moderate-intake Mediterranean dietary pattern. Caloric intake and intake of food groups per day are represented as Median (interquartile range). Values represent the cluster centers of each food group in the three identified food patterns, expressed in portions/day.

> Gender-specific food consumption characteristics of the 3 DP, showed that women following the WDP consumed more sugar portions (median consumption of 13 teaspoons of sugars and jams) than men (equivalent to almost seven teaspoons of added sugar) in this same pattern, although median energy intake was on average lower in women compared to men. Men and women adopting the HI-MEDDP had the highest median consumption of olive, seeds, and oleaginous fruits (12 and 9 teaspoons equivalent of fat, respectively) (data in Supplementary Table S2).
