ABSTRACT
Introduction: The aim of current study was to compare dietary diversity score [DDS] among obese, overweight and normal-weight Tehranian adults
Materials and Methods: This was a casecontrol study conducted on 200 cases [100 obese and 100 overweight] and 300 controls, all aged over 18 years with [normal-weight matched by socioeconomic status], in Tehran. The study was based on self-administered questionnaires, including a 168-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire [FFQ], a simple self-report physical activity questionnaire and a sociodemographic questionnaire. DDS was computed based on the scoring of the five food groups of the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] food guide pyramid according to the Kant et al method. Anthropometric measurements including height, weight, waist and hip circumferences were measured and body mass index [BMI] and waist-to-hip ratio [WHR] were calculated
Results: Mean DDS in obese [5.65 +/- 1.32] was higher than in overweight participants [5.23 +/- 1.23] and that of overweight participants was higher than normal-weight ones [4.97 +/- 1.42], [P<0.001]. The odds of obesity increased with increase of each one unit of DDS [OR,1.46; 95%CI,1.22-1.74] and slightly weakened after adjusting for age, sex, marital status, smoking, socioeconomic status, physical activity and energy intake [OR,1.34; 95%CI,1.07-1.68]
Conclusion: There was a significant positive association between DDS and obesity among Tehranian adults, emphasizing the need for more investigations to recommend increasing dietary diversity to improve health in adults