Association of Major Dietary Patterns and Overweight/Obesity in Female Adolescents Living in North West of Iran

Obesity and overweight is a great concern in adolescence that would have impact on adulthood. This study was conducted to identify major dietary patterns and their relation with overweight/obesity of female adolescents living in Northwest of Iran.

The design of the study was cross-sectional conducted on 350 female students aged 16-18 years in Urmia city, Iran. Height and weight were measured using standard techniques and weight status was defined by World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) cut-offs. Dietary intake information was collected by a validated 169-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire via face-to-face interview. Dietary patterns were identified through principle component analysis. Demographic and socio-economic confounding factors were obtained by a questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between overweight/obesity and dietary patterns.

About one third of participants (n=115, 32.9%) were overweight or obese. Three major dietary patterns were extracted: "high vegetable-high dairy", "high protein", and "traditional dishes". Parental educational level, house assets and household size were associated with dietary patterns. After adjusting for confounders, adolescents in upper quartile of "high vegetable-high dairy" pattern (OR=3.17, 95% CI=1.50-6.70; p trend=0.010), and "high protein" pattern (OR=2.01, 95% CI=0.96-4.19; p trend=0.006) had a greater risk of being overweight/obese. However, traditional dietary pattern was not related to overweight/obesity (p trend=0.70).

Findings suggest that the chance of overweight/obesity was increased in adolescents that had higher adherence to "high vegetable-high dairy" and "high protein" dietary patterns. On the other hand, the socioeconomic status of household was an important factor influencing tendency of adolescents to a special dietary pattern.