Association between carbohydrate intake and body composition: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Abstract

Several studies have investigated the effects of dietary carbohydrate intake on body composition. However, the results are controversial and few studies have been conducted on an Asian population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dietary carbohydrate intake is associated with body composition in Korean adults. The present study used data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional survey of Korean civilians, conducted from 2008 to 2011. The study analyzed 9594 participants. Carbohydrate intake was defined as the proportion of energy consumed from carbohydrate. Waist circumference, body mass index, and lean and fat mass using a whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scanner were measured as body composition parameters. After adjusting for age, household income, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, history of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and intake of energy and fiber per day, the proportion of carbohydrate intake was positively correlated with total limb lean mass in men (β = 0.141, P = 0.046), and in women, the proportion of carbohydrate intake was positively associated with appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (β = 0804, P = 0.003) but negatively associated with trunk fat percentage (β = -0.075, P = 0.026). Total limb lean mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass index in women showed an increasing trend as the proportion of carbohydrate intake increased. No positive association was found between the proportion of carbohydrate intake and any measure of obesity or body fat mass in either men or women. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effects of quantity and quality of carbohydrate intake on body composition.