Association between dietary patterns and obesity-related metabolic phenotypes in Chinese middle-aged and older adults: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Middle-aged and elderly people are prone to obesity or metabolic abnormalities, and an unreasonable dietary pattern is an important factor affecting the occurrence or development of metabolic diseases. 15,160 middle-aged and elderly participants classified into four categories on the basis of obesity metabolic phenotype criteria: metabolically healthy nonobese (MHNO), metabolically unhealthy nonobese (MUNO), metabolically healthy obese (MHO), and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO). The main dietary patterns of the study population were identified via food frequency questionnaire and principal component analysis. A multi-categorical logistic regression model was used to observe the relationships between dietary patterns and different obesity metabolic phenotypes in middle-aged and elderly people. A total of four dietary patterns were extracted. Higher scores for the “egg-dairy preference” pattern were associated with a reduced risk of MUNO, MHO, and MUO. A high consumption of the “plant preference” pattern was also associated with a reduced risk of MUNO. Conversely, a high intake of the “grain and meat preference” pattern was associated with the highest prevalence of MHO. Our study revealed a strong association between a diet rich in eggs and dairy and a lower prevalence of the obesity-related metabolic phenotype in middle-aged and elderly people.