Dietary diversity score is related to anthropometric indices among adolescents

Introduction: Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood. Children who are entering adolescence are going through many changes (physical, intellectual, personality and social developmental).Dietary diversity score is an easy and cost-benefit index for evaluating diet quality and reflects the consumption of various foods between and within each food group. The result of some studies among women of different age groups have demonstrated that dietary intake is related to anthropometric indices. Methods: A representative sample of 384 female students aged 15–18 years was selected randomly from west high schools of Tehran, Iran. Sociodemographic and physical status information was obtained from the questionnaires. Usual dietary intake was assessed using a validated semi-quantitative FFQ. DDS was calculated according to the scoring of the five food groups based on the US department of agriculture food guide pyramid. This is a score of diet variety, and showsthe diversity of the consumed diet. Weight was measured by using digital scales, with the participants wearing minimal clothing and no shoes, and was recorded to the nearest 100 g. Height was measured by using a tape measure while the participants were standing in a normal position with no shoes. We used the method described by Kant et al for scoring dietary diversity. Results: This study showed that the mean DDS was 6.81±1.75. This result is consistent with other studies that measured DDS using the 24- hour recall questionnaire. Conclusion: The present study, conducted for a representative sample of Iranian female adolescents, showed an direct association of DDS with anthropometric indices.We used this population because there is little nutritional information specific for this group in Iran.

Keywords:

Dietary diversity score , anthropometric indices , adolescence