Dietary Diversity and Abdominal Obesity among Female Students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Background: Obesity and overweight are the main risk factors for several chronic diseases with a rising trend in recent years. Obesity is multifactorial and is related to nutritional status of people and is correlated with the dietary diversity. This study investigated the relationship between dietary diversity score (DDS) and abdominal obesity among female students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 120 female students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran were enrolled. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC) were measured according to standard procedures, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Also, their dietary intake was recorded using a 24-hour diet recall questionnaires. DDS was calculated using food grouping based on the food pyramid guide. The relationship between DDS and anthropometric indicators was statistically assessed. Results: BMI was shown to be 21.94±4.66 kg/m2 and the WC was 79±11 cm. The DDS ranged from 1.7 to 9.4. BMI and waist circumference were significantly different between DDS quartiles; compared to the highest DDS quartile, subjects with the lowest DDS quartile had higher BMI and WC. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was less among participants with higher DDS. Conclusion: Overweight, obesity as well as abdominal obesity were demonstrated to be inversely correlated to DDS, so that with an increase in DDS, overweight, and obesity as well as abdominal obesity decreased.