Association between dietary inflammatory index and anthropometric indicators of adiposity in Brazilian adolescents

Background: Diet may play a role in the regulation of obesity-related low-grade chronic inflammation.

Objective: Assess the association of the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) with anthropometric indicators of adiposity in Brazilian adolescents.

Methods: Data were collected from 71 740 adolescents (12-17 years old) examined in the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents. Food consumption was assessed by means of one 24-h dietary recall, and DII was estimated using 39 food parameters. The body mass index (weight/height² ) for age and sex was used to define overweight (>1 z-score). Abdominal obesity was indicated by waist circumference (WC) values >80th percentile and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) > 0.50. The association between DII and anthropometric indicators was assessed using logistic regression models.

Results: The mean DII score was higher in girls than in boys (0.77; SD = 0.04 vs. 0.04; SD = 0.05). Adolescents in the 4th quartile of DII, compared with those in the 1st quartile, had increased odds of being overweight (boys: OR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.37; 2.25; girls: OR = 1.63; 95%CI: 1.36; 1.95), having abdominal obesity (boys: OR = 1.61; 95%CI: 1.33; 1.95; girls: OR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.48; 2.03), and having high WHtR (boys: OR = 1.91; 95%CI: 1.52; 2.39; girls: OR = 1.75; 95%CI: 1.46; 2.11).

Conclusions: The findings showed a direct association between the dietary inflammatory potential measured by DII and adiposity.