The Relationship Between Dietary Diversity with General and Abdominal Obesity in Female Amateur Athletes of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of obesity in the world shows the impact of environmental factors such as sex, marital status, and changes in eating patterns as well as the replacement of high-fat diets rather than healthy diets. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary diversity score, general obesity, and abdominal obesity among female athlete students of Mazandaran University of Medical Science. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 143 healthy amateur athletes aged 18 to 28 years old were randomly selected as female students. The usual food intake was evaluated using a 24-hour recall questionnaire for three consecutive days. Dietary scores were calculated based on scores of five food groups. Weight, height, waist circumference, and hip circumference were measured based on standard methods. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression were used. Results: There was an inverse and significant relationship between the dietary diversity score and general and abdominal obesity in amateur female students (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: There is an inverse and significant relationship between the adherence to a high-diversity diet and obesity patterns. Finding dietary patterns associated with obesity can help obesity prevention and provide a healthy diet for controlling this epidemic in the community.