Dietary inflammatory index scores are associated with atherogenic risk in Brazilian schoolchildren

Objective: To investigate the association between the Children's Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DIITM) scores and atherogenic risk in Brazilian schoolchildren. Design: A cross-sectional representative study. Three 24-h dietary recalls were performed to evaluate food consumption and to calculate C-DII scores. Blood samples were collected for the lipid profile analysis (serum total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol and triglycerides (TAG)) and to determine atherogenic indexes (Castelli risk indexes I and II, lipoprotein combined index (LCI), and atherogenic index of plasma and atherogenic coefficient (AC)). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic characteristics and screen time. Body fat was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We compared the distributions of outcomes by C-DII categories using multivariable linear regression. Setting: Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Participants: Three hundred seventy-eight children between the ages of 8 and 9 years. Results: The mean C-DII score was 0.60 +/- 0.94, and the prevalence of dyslipidaemia was 70 %. Children with hypercholesterolaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia had higher C-DII scores. The C-DII was directly associated with atherogenic risk. Every 1 sd of C-DII was associated with a 0.07 (0.01, 0.13), 1.94 (0.20, 3.67), 0.06 (0.002, 0.12) and 0.12 (0.02, 0.22) units higher TC:HDL cholesterol ratio, LCI, AC and accumulation of altered dyslipidaemia markers (high TC + high LDL-cholesterol + high TAG + low HDL-cholesterol), respectively. Conclusions: Dietary inflammatory potential, as estimated by the C-DII, is directly associated with atherogenic risk in Brazilian schoolchildren. This results reinforce the importance of effective nutritional policies to promote healthy eating habits and improve children's lipid profiles.