Dietary patterns and their association with socio-demographic and lifestyle factors among Thehrani adults: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

This study aimed to determine dietary patterns in district 13 of Tehrani adults and evaluate its association with socio-demographic and lifestyle factors This cross-sectional study was conducted on 343 male and 453 female aged 18-65 years who participated in Tehran Lipid and Glucose study. Usual dietary intakes were assessed with food frequency questionnaire. Dietary patterns were determined by factor analysis based on 24 food groups identified by similarity of nutrients. Three major dietary patterns were identified: healthy (HDP), western (WDP) and traditional (TDP). Lifestyle and socio-demographic characteristics gathered with pre-tested questionnaires. Multiple regression models separately for men and women were fitted to assess the relationships. The mean age(SD) of men and women were 40(13) and 36(12) respectively. WDP characterized by a higher consumption of salty snacks, sauces, sweetened beverages, processed meats and refined grains, and the HDP characterized by greater intakes of vegetables, low fat meats, tea and coffee, legumes and nuts.WDP had the most variance among 3 dietary patterns. The mean factor score of HDP was higher in women than in men(P<0.05) after adjusting for age and total energy intake. Adherence to a WDP was higher among younger participants (men: β=-0.46, women:-0.34, P<0.001). The percent of married individuals were the most in fourth quartiles of HDP score among the other quartiles (P<0.01) and married men were less likely to follow WDP (β=-0.25, P<0.01). Three major dietary patterns were found with factor analysis: western, healthy and traditional. Younger and single individuals had more adherence to WDP and women had higher score in HDP.