Adherence to Nordic Nutrition Recommendations and Abdominal Obesity and Anthropometric Indices among Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in Tehran, Iran

Background: Abdominal obesity (AO) is a global health problem. Although few studies indicated that Nordic diet (ND) was associated with AO, no evidence exists for the association between ND and AO outside the Nordic countries. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship of ND with AO and anthropometric indices among Iranian women. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated anthropometric indices and usual dietary intakes of 294 Iranian women aged 20-50 years. We defined AO as waist circumference (WC) ≥ 88 cm and WC ≥ 90 (according to Iranian criteria). Association between qualitative variables and health eating index-nordic nutrition recommendation (HEI-NNR) score was determined using Chi-square and Mann–Whitney tests. The relationship of HEI-NNR score with AO was analyzed by a logistic regression model after adjusting the effect of confounders. Results: The mean of HEI-NNR score was significantly higher in overweight and obese participants than participants without overweight (P = 0.04). No linear trend was found for body mass index, WC, and waist to hip ratio (WHR) through the HEI-NNR score even after adjustment for confounders. A significant positive association was found among HEI-NNR score, overweight, and obesity (OR = 1.85, 95%CI = 1.15-2.96, P = 0.01). However, the association did not remain significant after adjusting for the confounders. Conclusion: Adherence to the ND was not associated with AO and anthropometric measurement among Iranian women. Future evidences from RCT and prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm these findings.