Relationships between Dietary Inflammatory Index and Intelligence Quotient in Female Students Aged 15–18 Years in Districts 1 and 19 of Tehran, 2020

Increased dietary inflammatory index can be one of the factors affecting brain function and occurrence of academic failure in adolescents. There are evidence that diet modification in adolescents and anti-inflammatory diets play important roles in improving intelligence quotient and further academic achievements in adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between dietary inflammatory index and intelligence quotient in adolescent girls.

In this cross-sectional study, 162 female students were selected using cluster sampling. Raven intelligence quotient test was used to measure student intelligence quotient. Dietary inflammatory index score was calculated through food data collected using 3-day food recalls.

The mean age of the 162 students was 16.3 y ±1.06 and the mean value of using intelligence was 103± 9.8. Nearly 74% of the students had moderate intelligence and 17% were smart.The mean dietary inflammatory index score in these individuals was -0.08 ±1.54. No significant relationships were seen between dietary inflammatory index and intelligence quotient in the crude model and after adjusting for confounding variables.

No significant relationships were reported between diet inflammatory index score and intelligence quotient in adolescents. Extensive and prospective studies on genetic and environmental factors affecting intelligence quotient are recommended.