Dietary Patterns Are Associated with Different Indexes of Adiposity and Obesity in an Urban Mexican Population1,2

Abstract

Our objective was to evaluate the relationships between dietary patterns and obesity, abdominal obesity, and high body fat proportion (measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; >25% in men and >35% in women) in an urban Mexican population. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis with the baseline data from 6070 men and women aged 20–70 y participating in the Health Workers Cohort Study, including information on participants' socio-demographic status and physical activity collected via self-administered questionnaires. Dietary intake was evaluated using a 116-item FFQ. Anthropometric measures were obtained using standardized procedures. We used factor analysis to identify 3 major dietary patterns: prudent, Westernized, and high animal protein/fat. We found that participants in the highest quintile of the prudent pattern were less likely to have high-body fat proportion (OR, 0.82; 95% CI: 0.70–0.98) and that participants in the highest quintile of the Westernized pattern had greater odds for obesity (OR, 1.46; 95% CI: 1.23–1.73), abdominal obesity (OR, 1.64; 95% CI: 1.37–1.96), and high-body fat proportion (OR, 1.17; 95% CI: 1.01–1.35). Additionally, participants in the upper quintile of the high-animal protein/-fat pattern had greater odds of being obese (OR, 1.23; 95% CI: 1.06–1.42). These results indicate that the dietary patterns of Mexican adults are associated with different levels of adiposity and obesity. Further prospective studies are required to confirm these associations.