A community-based study on quality of diet impacting cardio-metabolic risk; hierarchical prediction and cluster analysis from a diet survey among adults.

Abstract

Food is the basic human need and healthy diet is the foundation for good health. However unhealthy dietary practices are one of the leading risks for non-communicable diseases (NCD), a major health challenge worldwide. This study aimed to assess the diet quality (DQ) concerning the cardio-metabolic risk status among adult individuals in the community. A community-based cross-sectional survey to assess the prevalence of NCD risk factors and diet quality was conducted over two months among individuals aged 30 years and above without a history of diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and diet quality was assessed using a validated tool Short-Healthy-Eating-Index (sHEI). Statistical analysis such as descriptive statistics and odds ratio were computed at a 5% significance level. Cluster analysis was done by Scree plot and K-means clustering technique. The study included 378 eligible survey respondents, of whom about 87% exhibited at least one cardio-metabolic risk manifestation. Good DQ significantly reduced the odds of being overweight (<i>P</i> = 0.038) and obesity (<i>P</i> = < 0.001), whereas high intake of vegetables 10 times significantly reduced the odds of high central adiposity (<i>P</i> = < 0.001). Good whole grains intake and limiting dietary sodium significantly reduced the odds of hypertension. The cluster analysis revealed that those clusters with low DQ scores displayed a higher risk of obesity, central adiposity and elevated blood pressure. The current study highlighted the strong impact of diet on cardiovascular and metabolic risk indicating the urgent need to promote healthy diet at the community level.