The Association Between Dietary Pattern and Weight Status in School-Aged Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: considering the increasing incidence of overweightness and obesity along with underweight among children, the investigation of the association between weight status and dietary pattern could provide valuable information about health of children. The aim of the present study was to assess the association between dietary pattern and weight status of rural school-aged children in Bijar County, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study consisted of 255 rural school-aged children (aged 7 to 12 years) from Bijar county that were selected through simple random sampling. Dietary data were obtained by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Also, assessment of anthropometric indices, physical activity, and demographic information was performed using standard procedures. Major dietary patterns were determined through the use of principal components analysis, and their association with child weight status was also investigated. Results: Three dietary patterns, including traditional, modern, and mixed were identified. After adjustment based on age, physical activity, and energy intakes, P trend was significant and showed an upward trend for the chances of being overweight and obese in the quartile of the traditional dietary pattern (p for trend = 0.04). The risk of thinness and severe thinness significantly increased when modern dietary pattern was greatly followed (p for trend = 0.04). Conclusions: Modern and mixed dietary patterns next to the traditional dietary pattern could be found among rural children. The current findings show that the traditional dietary pattern is associated with an increased risk of obesity; however, the modern dietary pattern leads to thinness in rural areas.