Diet quality in obese/overweight individuals with/without metabolic syndrome compared to normal weight controls

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a serious public health concern worldwide; however, the pathogenesis of this disease has not been yet cleared. This study aimed to compare diet quality in obese/overweight participants with/without metabolic syndrome with normal weight controls. Methods: This was a comparative study on 147 Iranian adults under treatment at the Endocrinology Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. They were assigned into three groups (normal weight, obese weight with/without MetS) according to the inclusion- exclusion criteria. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the NCEP ATPIII consensus criteria. Healthy Eating Index Data were obtained from the validated FFQ to determine the diet quality index scores, using the Healthy Eating Index-2010. Results: Our findings demonstrated that FBS, TG, SBP, WC and weight were higher among MetS patients compared to the both weight matched and non-weight matched participants, while HDL-c was lowest in this group (p<0.05). A statistically significant difference was found between healthy weight controls and obese/overweight participants with/without MetS in HEI-2010, and 9 of the 12 HEI-2010 components score (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study revealed that low diet quality was a risk factor in developing MetS.