Relationship Between Healthy Eating Index and Metabolic Syndrome

Background and Objective: Dietary quality may have an important effect on the manifestation of metabolic syndrome. Some studies showed there is an association between a Healthy Eating Index (HEI) as one of the most important dietary quality and metabolic syndrome. The goal of this study was the survey effects of dietary quality as a healthy eating index on metabolic syndrome besides demographic factors. Materials and Methods: This survey was a case-control study done on 350 males and females (including 175 metabolic syndrome and 175 healthy persons) with age range 20-65 years old that were guided by laboratories and general recalling in Chalus, northern Iran. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is used for the collection of information on dietary intake and the healthy eating index was assessed with standard methods. Results: The chance of morbidity for metabolic syndrome was the same concerning HEI in quartile 4 (maximum score) versus quartile 1 (minimum score) although this chance decreased after adjustment for confounder variables (age, sex, dietary energy, education, job and marriage status). There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the procedure of odds ratio in quartiles and models (P trend) of HEI. Conclusion: There was no significant relation between HEI and the incidence of metabolic syndrome.