Tools, called ‘diet/dietary quality indices’, evaluate the level of adherence to a specified pattern or a set of recommendations in populations. Yet, there are no review studies providing unanimous comprehensive results of dietary indices on obesity. We reviewed observational studies, focusing on the association of diet quality indices with general obesity or abdominal obesity in adults. We systematically conducted a search in all English language publications available on MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science and Embase between January 1990 and January 2016. Among the wide variety of indices and weight-derived variables, studies with dietary-guideline-based indices and mean changes for weight gain or OR for general obesity and abdominal obesity were selected. From a total of 479 articles, thirty-four studies were selected for the current review, ten of which had prospective designs and twenty-six had cross-sectional designs. Associations of weight status with the original Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and other versions of the HEI including alternative HEI, HEI-2005 and HEI-05 were examined in thirteen studies, with ten studies revealing significant associations. The HEI was a better general obesity predictor in men than in women. Diet scores lacked efficacy in assessing overall diet quality and demonstrated no significant findings in developing countries, in comparison with US populations. In addition, indices based on dietary diversity scores were directly associated with weight gain. Despite the insufficient evidence to draw definitive conclusions about the relation between dietary indices and obesity, HEI was found to be inversely associated with obesity and diversity-based indices were positively associated with obesity.

Although dietary patterns have been linked to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, sparse data are available for a relationship between dietary patterns and incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) in West Asian populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of population-based dietary pattern with the risk of incident CKD after 6.1 years of follow-up. At baseline, habitual dietary intakes of 1630 participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) who were free of CKD was assessed by a valid and reliable food-frequency questionnaire. The following three major dietary patterns were identified using a principal components analysis: Lacto-vegetarian dietary pattern, traditional Iranian dietary pattern, and high fat, high sugar dietary pattern. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated, using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) Study equation and CKD was defined as eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73m2. Odds ratio (OR) using multivariable logistic regression was calculated for the association of incident CKD with the extracted dietary patterns. After adjusting for age, sex, smoking, total energy intake, physical activity, body mass index, diabetes, and hypertension the OR for participants in the highest compared with those in the lowest tertile of the lacto-vegetarian dietary pattern was 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.41 to 0.80, P-trend = 0.002). In contrast, the high fat, high sugar dietary pattern was positively associated with the incidence of CKD (OR for the third tertile compared with first tertile: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.03–2.09; P-trend = 0.036). Traditional Iranian dietary pattern was not associated with incident CKD. The high fat, high sugar dietary pattern was associated with significantly increased (46%) odds of incident CKD, whereas a lacto-vegetarian dietary pattern may be protective against the occurrence of CKD by 43%.

This study was conducted to examine the association of adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style diet with incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) among an Iranian population. We followed-up 1630 participants (50.5% women, mean age: 42.8 years) of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study for 6.1 years, who were initially free of CKD. Baseline diet was assessed using a valid and reliable 168-item food frequency questionnaire. A DASH-style diet, based on scoring eight components (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, low-fat dairy, red and processed meats, sweetened beverages and sodium) was used. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study equation and CKD was defined as eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m². Odds ratio (OR) using multivariable logistic regression was reported for the association of incident CKD with DASH-style diet score. The incidence of CKD among those in the top quintile of the DASH-style diet was 30%, 18% lower than those in the bottom quintile. After controlling for age, sex, smoking, total energy intake, body mass index, eGFR, triglycerides, physical activity, hypertension and diabetes, adherence to the DASH-style diet was found to be inversely associated with incident CKD (OR: 0.41; 95% confidence interval: 0.24–0.70). In addition, higher scores of fruits, whole grains, nuts and legumes, sweetened beverages and sodium were inversely associated with incidence of CKD. Results revealed that after 6.1 years of follow-up, adherence to the DASH-style diet was associated with a lower risk of incident CKD among adults.