Dietary Patterns in 1125 Iranian Women: Adequacy of Energy and Micronutrient Intakes and Weight Statuses

Marjan Ajami, Forouzan Salehi, Naser Kalantari, Mohsen Asadilari, Farnaz Roshanmehr, Anahita Houshiarrad, Mina Esmaeili, Morteza Abdollahi

Abstract


Background: Women’s nutrition status includes significant effects on their children and household health. The purpose of this study was to assess energy and micronutrient intake adequacy in Iranian women. Methods: This study was a part of the Urban HEART Study, which has jointly been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Centre for Health Development, Kobe, Japan. In total, anthropometric and dietary intake data were collected from 1125 women in southern Tehran municipality districts. A 24‑h recall questionnaire was completed by the expert nutritionists and the participants’ anthropometric statuses were assessed. Food intakes were calculated in grams per capita per day. Micronutrients and energy requirements were adapted from WHO/Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) tables and Iran National Food Consumption Survey, respectively. Results: Nearly 71.5% of the women were overweight or obese [body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2 ]. Furthermore, 1.2% of the women were underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2 ), while 27.3% had normal weight (BMI = 18.5‑‑24.9 kg/m2 ). The mean bread/cereal and vegetable intakes were significantly higher in obese group, compared to that in normal/under/overweight group (375.6 g/day ± 151.4, P = 0.05; and 331.4 g/day ± 227.5, P = 0.02), respectively]. Women in the lean group significantly consumed higher quantities of cakes/pastries and had the lowest calcium and iron adequacy ratios, compared to other groups (p = 0.001, P = 0.03, and P = 0.05, respectively). Conclusions: These findings suggest that Iranian women, especially those who reside in the southern areas of Tehran, need to change their dietary habits to maintain their health. Moreover, being under/normal weight does not necessarily mean following healthy diets.

Keywords


Body mass index; energy density; energy intake; micronutrient adequacy; obesity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Cisse‑Egbuonye N, Ishdorj A, McKyer EL, Mkuu R. Examining

nutritional adequacy and dietary diversity among women in Niger. Mater Child Health J 2017;21:1408‑16.

Tsiboe F, Zereyesus YA, Popp JS, Osei E. The effect of women’s

empowerment in agriculture on household nutrition and food

poverty in northern Ghana. Soc Indic Res 2018;138:89‑108.

Fox EL, Davis C, Downs SM, Schultink W, Fanzo J. Who is

the woman in women’s nutrition? A narrative review of evidence

and actions to support women’s nutrition throughout life. Curr

Dev Nutr 2018;3. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzy076.

Ekwaru JP, Ohinmaa A, Loehr S, Setayeshgar S, Thanh NX,

Veugelers PJ. The economic burden of inadequate consumption of

vegetables and fruit in Canada. Public Health Nutr 2016;20:515‑23.

Branca F, Piwoz E, Schultink W, Sullivan LM. Nutrition and

health in women, children and adolescent girls. Br Med J

;351:h4173.

Abdollahi M, Salehi F, Kalantari N, Asadilari M, Khoshfetrat MR,

Ajami M. A comparison of food pattern, macro‑ and some

micronutrients density of the diet across different socio‑economic

zones of Tehran. Med J Islam Repub Iran 2016;30:340.

Kavosi Z, Rashidian A, Pourreza A, Majdzadeh R, Pourmalek F,

Hosseinpour AR, et al. Inequality in household catastrophic

health care expenditure in a low‑income society of Iran. Health

Policy Plan 2012;27:613‑23.

Shahraki SH, Amirkhizi F, Amirkhizi B, Hamedi S. Household

food insecurity is associated with nutritional status among

Iranian children. Ecol Food Nutr 2016;55:473‑90.

Daneshi‑Maskooni M, Shab‑Bidar S, Badri‑Fariman M,

Aubi E, Mohammadi Y, Jafarnejad S, et al. Questionnaire‑based

prevalence of food insecurity in Iran: A review article. Iran J

Publ Health 2017;46:1454‑64.

Drewnowski A, Darmon N. The economics of obesity:

Dietary energy density and energy cost. Am J Clin Nutr

;82 (1 Suppl):265S‑73S.

Abdollahi M, Salehi F, Kalantari N, Asadilari M,

Khoshfetrat MR, Ajami M. A comparison of food pattern,

macro‑ and some micronutrients density of the diet across

different socio‑economic zones of Tehran. Med J Islam Repub

Iran 2016;30:340.

Lee SE, Talegawkar S, Merialdi M, Caulfield L. Dietary

intakes of women during pregnancy in low‑ and middle‑income

countries. Public Health Nutr 2012;16:1‑14.

Abdurahman AA, Bule M, Azadbakhat L, Fallahyekta M,

Parouhan A, Qorbani M, et al. The association between diet

quality and obesity‑related metabolic risks. Hum Antibodies.

;28:1‑9.

Fayet‑Moore F, Petocz P, McConnell A, Tuck K, Mansour M. The

cross‑sectional association between consumption of the recommended

five food group “Grain (Cereal)”, dietary fibre and anthropometric

measures among Australian adults. Nutrients 2017;9:157.

Rautiainen S, Wang L, Lee IM, Manson JE, Buring JE,

Sesso HD. Higher intake of fruit, but not vegetables or fiber, at

baseline is associated with lower risk of becoming overweight

or obese in middle‑aged and older women of normal BMI at

baseline. J Nutr 2015;145:960‑8.

Abete I, Astrup A, Martínez JA, Thorsdottir I, Zulet MA. Obesity

and the metabolic syndrome: Role of different dietary macronutrient

distribution patterns and specific nutritional components on weight

loss and maintenance. Nutr Rev 2010;68:214‑31.

Nissinen K, Mikkilä V, Männistö S, Lahti‑Koski M, Räsänen L,

Viikari J, et al. Sweets and sugar‑sweetened soft drink intake

in childhood in relation to adult BMI and overweight. The

cardiovascular risk in young Finns study. Public Health Nutr

;12:2018‑26.

Tardivo AP, Nahas‑Neto J, Nahas EA, Maesta N, Rodrigues MA,

Orsatti FL. Associations between healthy eating patterns and indicators

of metabolic risk in postmenopausal women. Nutr J 2010;9:64.

Yu D, Sonderman J, Buchowski MS, McLaughlin JK,

Shu X‑O, Steinwandel M, et al. Healthy eating and risks of

total and cause‑specific death among low‑income populations of

African‑Americans and other adults in the southeastern United

States: A prospective cohort study. PLoS Med 2015;12:e1001830.

Abdi F, Atarodi Z, Mirmiran P, Esteki T. A Review of nutritional

status in Iranian population. Focus Sci 2016;2:1‑10.

Abdollahi M, Mohammadi‑Nasrabadi F, Houshiarrad A,

Ghaffarpur M, Ghodsi D, Kalantari N. Socio‑economic

differences in dietary intakes: The comprehensive study on

household food consumption patterns and nutritional status of

I.R. Iran. Nutr Food Sci Res 2014;1:19‑26.

Jeffery R, Linde J, Simon G, Ludman EJ, Rohde P, Ichikawa LE,

et al. Reported food choices in older women in relation to BMI

and depressive symptoms. Appetite 2008;52:238‑40.

Macdiarmid JI, Vail A, Cade JE, Blundell JE. The sugar‑fat

relationship revisited: Differences in consumption between men

and women of varying BMI. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord

;22:1053‑61.

Campbell R, Tasevska N, Jackson KG, Sagi‑Kiss V, di Paolo N,

Mindell JS, et al. Association between urinary biomarkers of

total sugars intake and measures of obesity in a cross‑sectional

study. PLoS One 2017;12:e0179508.

Saraf‑Bank S, Haghighatdoost F, Esmaillzadeh A, Larijani B,

Azadbakht L. Adherence to healthy eating index‑2010 is

inversely associated with metabolic syndrome and its features

among Iranian adult women. Eur J Clin Nutr 2017;71:425‑30.

Koksal E, Karacil Ermumcu MS, Mortas H. Description of

the healthy eating indices‑based diet quality in Turkish adults:

A cross‑sectional study. Environ Health Prev Med 2017;22:12.

Jiang S, Ma X, Li M, Yan S, Zhao H, Pan Y, et al. Association

between dietary mineral nutrient intake, body mass index and

waist circumference in U.S. adults using quantile regression

analysis NHANES 2007‑2014. Peer J 2020;8:e9127.

Zhu Z, Wu F, Lu Y, Wu C, Wang Z, Zang J, et al. Total and

nonheme dietary iron intake is associated with metabolic

syndrome and its components in Chinese men and women.

Nutrients 2018;10:1663.

Pal A, De S, Sengupta P, Maity P, Dhara PC. An investigation

on prevalence of anemia in relation to BMI and nutrient

intake among adult rural population of West Bengal, India.

Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Public Health. 2014;11.

Azadbakht L, Mirmiran P, Hosseini F, Azizi F. Diet quality status

of most Tehranian adults needs improvement. Asia Pac J Clin

Nutr 2005;14:163‑8.