Dietary Patterns Associated with Adult Obesity in Tehran, Iran: A Scoping Review

 Identification of obesity-related dietary patterns in any culture can affect policymaking. The purpose of the study was to summarize obesity-related dietary patterns and their food groups in Tehranian adults.

The study followed the five stages in the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. We searched international databases (PubMed, Web of Science), national databases (SID, Iran Doc) and Google Scholar search engine with the keywords obesity, overweight, dietary patterns, eating patterns, food patterns, diet and Iran for finding related studies that have been published in the last two decades (2000-2020) along with the manual search of the list of selected study sources and gray literature (dissertations and final research report).

A total of 12 studies were included in the review study. 17 out of 33 dietary patterns were associated with obesity. Eight diets were undesirable, eight diets were desirable, and one was inconsistently associated with obesity. Food groups common in undesirable diets include sugar-sweetened beverages, sweets, desserts, industrial juices, sugar, red meat, processed meats, solid fats, refined grains, snacks. Food groups common in desirable diets include vegetables, fruits, poultry and fish, legumes, whole grains, olive or olive oil.

Obesity-related dietary patterns are common in adults in Tehran. This study provided information on food groups that guide targeted policymaking to improve the food groups in food store supply, household consumption, and food industry and agricultural products.