The Oslo Health Study: A Dietary Index estimating high intake of soft drinks and low intake of fruits and vegetables was positively associated with components of the metabolic syndrome.

Description

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the Dietary Index (calculated as the intake estimate of soft drinks divided by the sum of intake estimates of fruits and vegetables) and 3 factors: an index estimating many metabolic syndrome-related components, an increasing number of metabolic syndrome features, and the complete metabolic syndrome. The study sample included 13,170 participants (5,997 men and 7,173 women) of the Oslo Health Study. Metabolic syndrome risk was calculated as the sum of arbitrarily weighed factors positively associated with metabolic syndrome divided by HDL cholesterol. Results showed that the Dietary Index, which is an estimate of an unhealthy lifestyle, was positively associated with metabolic syndrome estimates across age and sex groups, and remained significant after adjustment of appropriate confounding factors. These results indicate that an unhealthy diet is positively related to components of the metabolic syndrome.