Association between Diet-Quality Scores, Adiposity, Total Cholesterol and Markers of Nutritional Status in European Adults: Findings from the Food4Me Study

• Published in: Nutrients 2018-01, Vol.10 (1), p.49
• Main Authors: Fallaize, Rosalind, Livingstone, Katherine M, Celis-Morales, Carlos, Macready, Anna L, San-Cristobal, Rodrigo, Navas-Carretero, Santiago, Marsaux, Cyril F M, O'Donovan, Clare B, Kolossa, Silvia, Moschonis, George, Walsh, Marianne C, Gibney, Eileen R, Brennan, Lorraine, Bouwman, Jildau, Manios, Yannis, Jarosz, Miroslaw, Martinez, J Alfredo, Daniel, Hannelore, Saris, Wim H M, Gundersen, Thomas E, Drevon, Christian A, Gibney, Michael J, Mathers, John C, Lovegrove, Julie A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Adiposity; Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Aged; Anthropometry; Biomarkers - blood; blood; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Carotenoids; Cholesterol; Cholesterol - blood; Coronary artery disease; coronary disease; Diabetes mellitus; Diet; Diet, Healthy; Dietary intake; Eating; Europe; European Union; Feeding Behavior; Female; food frequency questionnaires; food intake; Food quality; Health Behavior; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health risks; Health Status Disparities; healthy eating habits; Heart diseases; Humans; Male; Markers; Mediterranean diet; men; Metabolism; Middle Aged; noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; Nutrition Assessment; nutritional adequacy; Nutritional Status; Nutritive Value; Physical activity; Regression analysis; sedentary lifestyle; Surveys and Questionnaires; waist circumference; waist-to-height ratio; women; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu10010049

Diet-quality scores (DQS), which are developed across the globe, are used to define adherence to specific eating patterns and have been associated with risk of coronary heart disease and type-II diabetes. We explored the association between five diet-quality scores (Healthy Eating Index, HEI; Alternate Healthy Eating Index, AHEI; MedDietScore, MDS; PREDIMED Mediterranean Diet Score, P-MDS; Dutch Healthy Diet-Index, DHDI) and markers of metabolic health (anthropometry, objective physical activity levels (PAL), and dried blood spot total cholesterol (TC), total carotenoids, and omega-3 index) in the Food4Me cohort, using regression analysis. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Participants ( = 1480) were adults recruited from seven European Union (EU) countries. Overall, women had higher HEI and AHEI than men ( < 0.05), and scores varied significantly between countries. For all DQS, higher scores were associated with lower body mass index, lower waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference, and higher total carotenoids and omega-3-index ( trends < 0.05). Higher HEI, AHEI, DHDI, and P-MDS scores were associated with increased daily PAL, moderate and vigorous activity, and reduced sedentary behaviour ( trend < 0.05). We observed no association between DQS and TC. To conclude, higher DQS, which reflect better dietary patterns, were associated with markers of better nutritional status and metabolic health.