Dietary diversity score is favorably associated with the metabolic syndrome in Tehranian adults

OBJECTIVE: Assessing overall diet instead of the effects of a single nutrient on diet-disease relations may be more informative. This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between dietary diversity score (DDS) and metabolic syndrome in Tehranian adults. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: A representative sample of 581 healthy subjects aged over 18 y selected randomly from among participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. MEASUREMENTS: Usual dietary intake was assessed using a validated semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire. DDS was calculated based on scoring to the five-food group. The DDS range was 0-10. Weight and height were measured according to standard protocols and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Fasting blood samples were taken for biochemical measurements and blood pressure was assessed according to standard methods. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to ATPIII. Subjects were categorized based on quartile cut-points of DDS. RESULTS: Means (+/- s.d.) of age and BMI were 37 +/- 12 y and 25.7 +/- 4.3 kg/m(2), respectively. Mean (+/- s.d.) of DDS was 6.15 +/- 1.02. The probability of having metabolic syndrome decreased with quartiles of DDS ( odds ratios among quartiles: 1.00, 0.82, 0.76, 0.70, P < 0.05, and odds ratios among quartiles after further adjustment for BMI: 1.00, 0.88, 0.80, 0.77, P < 0.05). After controlling for confounders, a significantly decreasing trend was observed for the risk of having high blood pressure, impaired glucose homeostasis and high triglyceride levels. CONCLUSION: DDS had inverse association with metabolic syndrome and some of its features in this cross-sectional study. A higher dietary diversity, therefore, might be associated with lower possibility of having some metabolic disorders.