Dynamic Mediterranean Prospective Cohort: the SUN Project

Conditions

Chronic Disease, Dietary Habits, Lifestyle

Keywords

Nutritional epidemiology, Prospective

Brief summary

Dynamic prospective cohort of Spanish university graduates. The main objective is to evaluate the associations between nutrition and lifestyle and chronic diseases.

Detailed description

The SUN Project (University of Navarra Follow-Up Study) began in 1999, and currently more than 20,500 people participate. The Project is permanently open to new volunteers, and around 2,000 new participants are invited each year. A new questionnaire is sent to participants every two years. The questionnaires are named with the letter Q, followed by the number of years that have passed since the participant first volunteered. The first questionnaire is titled Q0 and is followed by Q2,Q4, etc. The cohort is dynamic thanks to the fact that it is permanently open to new volunteers. Although the Project was created by the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the University of Navarra, it now counts on the invaluable collaboration of other Spanish university centers. Thanks to the invaluable collaboration of our participants, the investigators are able to research cardiovascular diseases, depression, fertility, arterial hypertension, and car accident injuries, among other areas.

Menezes-Júnior L, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Bullón-Vela V, González-Cantero Á, Martin-Gorgojo A, Bes-Rastrollo M.

2026-09-04

10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101511

Long-term risk of overweight/obesity according to the protein quality index in a prospective middle-aged cohort.

de la O V, Goni L, Zazpe I, Martínez-González MÁ, Santiago S, Bes-Rastrollo M, Ruiz-Canela M.

2025-07-30

10.1016/j.clnu.2025.07.024

Role of the Intensity of Habitual Physical Activity in the Maintenance of Normal Blood Pressure: Findings From the SUN Longitudinal Cohort Study

Anne Katherine Gribble, María Soledad Hershey, José Francisco López‐Gil, Fan‐Yun Lan, Stefanos N. Kales et al. (8 authors)

Journal of the American Heart Association2025-06-051 citations

10.1161/jaha.124.038664

Should we remove wine from the Mediterranean diet?: a narrative review.

Martínez-González MA.

2023-12-2817 citations

10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.12.020

Association between an oxidative balance score and mortality: a prospective analysis in the SUN cohort.

Talavera-Rodriguez I, Fernandez-Lazaro CI, Hernández-Ruiz Á, Hershey MS, Galarregui C, Sotos-Prieto M, de la Fuente-Arrillaga C, Martínez-González MÁ, Ruiz-Canela M.

2023-02-1242 citations

10.1007/s00394-023-03099-8

Association between ideal cardiovascular health and telomere length in participants older than 55 years old from the SUN cohort

Lucía Alonso-Pedrero, Ana Ojeda‐Rodríguez, Guillermo Zalba, Cristina Razquín, Miguel Ángel Martínez‐González et al. (7 authors)

Revista Española de Cardiología (English Edition)2021-05-149 citations

10.1016/j.rec.2021.04.002

The Association Between the Mediterranean Lifestyle Index and All-Cause Mortality in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra Cohort.

Hershey MS, Fernandez-Montero A, Sotos-Prieto M, Kales S, Gea A, Ruiz-Estigarribia L, Sánchez-Villegas A, Díaz-Gutiérrez J, Martínez-González MA, Ruiz-Canela M.

2020-11-1817 citations

10.1016/j.amepre.2020.06.014

Ultra-processed food consumption and the risk of short telomeres in an elderly population of the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) Project.

Alonso-Pedrero L, Ojeda-Rodríguez A, Martínez-González MA, Zalba G, Bes-Rastrollo M, Marti A.

2020-06-0142 citations

10.1093/ajcn/nqaa075

Association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and all cause mortality: SUN prospective cohort study

Anaïs Rico-Campà, Miguel Ángel Martínez‐González, Ismael Álvarez‐Álvarez, Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Carmen de la Fuente‐Arrillaga et al. (7 authors)

BMJ2019-05-29519 citations

10.1136/bmj.l1949

Global sustainability (health, environment and monetary costs) of three dietary patterns: results from a Spanish cohort (the SUN project)

Ujué Fresán, Miguel Ángel Martínez‐González, Joan Sabaté, Maira Bes‐Rastrollo

BMJ Open2019-02-0193 citations

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021541

Total polyphenol intake, polyphenol subtypes and incidence of cardiovascular disease: The SUN cohort study.

Mendonça RD, Carvalho NC, Martin-Moreno JM, Pimenta AM, Lopes ACS, Gea A, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Bes-Rastrollo M.

2018-10-0463 citations

10.1016/j.numecd.2018.09.012

Dietary inflammatory index and all-cause mortality in large cohorts: The SUN and PREDIMED studies.

Garcia-Arellano A, Martínez-González MA, Ramallal R, Salas-Salvadó J, Hébert JR, Corella D, Shivappa N, Forga L, Schröder H, Muñoz-Bravo C, Estruch R, Fiol M, Lapetra J, Serra-Majem L, Ros E, Rekondo J, Toledo E, Razquin C, Ruiz-Canela M, SUN and PREDIMED Study Investigators.

2018-05-2489 citations

10.1016/j.clnu.2018.05.003

Ultraprocessed food consumption and risk of overweight and obesity: the University of Navarra Follow-Up (SUN) cohort study.

Mendonça RD, Pimenta AM, Gea A, de la Fuente-Arrillaga C, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Lopes AC, Bes-Rastrollo M.

2016-10-12382 citations

10.3945/ajcn.116.135004

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Spanish university graduates

Exclusion criteria

* not Spanish university graduates

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Mortality	50 years

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Cardiovascular disease	50 years	cardiovascular death, acute coronary syndromes (myocardial infarction with or without ST elevation), revascularization procedures or fatal or non-fatal stroke.
Obesity	50 years	BMI\>30 kg/m2
Depression	50 years	Diagnosed depression through the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-I) for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)
Cognitive function	50 years	Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status-modified (TICS-m)

Countries

Spain

Outcome results