Mediterranean diet, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) style diet, and metabolic health in U.S. adults.
There is sparse evidence on the relationship between the Mediterranean diet, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) style diet, and metabolic health, especially comparing cardiometabolic phenotypes among in normal weight and obese populations. We aimed to investigate the association of the Mediterranean diet scores (MDS) and DASH index with metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and metabolically obese normal weight (MONW) phenotypes in a representative U.S.







MDS and DASH index were calculated using dietary data from 2767 adults aged 20-90 years without any prior diagnosis of cancer or cardiovascular disease from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, 1988-1994. MHO and MONW individuals were identified using fasting glucose, insulin resistance, blood pressure, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol.



Higher MDS was associated with higher odds of MHO phenotype (odds ratio (OR)T3 vs T1, 2.57 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04-6.35]; P trend = 0.04), and higher DASH index was associated with lower odds of MONW phenotype (ORT3 vs T1,0.59 [95% CI, 0.38-0.93]; P trend = 0.03) only in the younger age group (<45 years for men or premenopausal women). No significant associations of MDS and DASH index with MHO and MONW phenotypes were observed in the older age group (≥45 years for men or postmenopausal women).



Adherence to Mediterranean diet or DASH style diet was favorably associated with MHO and MONW phenotypes only in the younger age group, suggesting that potential dietary intervention to prevent cardiometabolic disease differ by age group.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA; Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Yong-Moon Mark
YM
Park
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Susan E
SE
Steck
Department of Nutrition, Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Nutrition, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Teresa T
TT
Fung
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Jiajia
J
Zhang
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Linda J
LJ
Hazlett
Department of Biostatistics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Kyungdo
K
Han
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Seung-Hwan
SH
Lee
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Hyuk-Sang
HS
Kwon
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA. Electronic address: merchant@mailbox.sc.edu.
Anwar T
AT
Merchant
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000886:Anthropometry; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D000073601:Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
D001786:Blood Glucose; D014280:Triglycerides; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D002784:Cholesterol
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension style diet; Mediterranean diet; Metabolically healthy obese; Metabolically obese normal weight; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III