An Obesity Dietary Quality Index Predicts Abdominal Obesity in Women: Potential Opportunity for New Prevention and Treatment Paradigms

Table 1

Baseline characteristics of 288 healthy women without abdominal obesity (waist circumference $\le$88 cm) in the Framingham Offspring-Spouse Study according to dietary quality^1,2.

		Obesity-Specific Nutritional Risk Score^3
	Higher		Lower
	Dietary Quality		Dietary Quality
	Tertile 1	Tertile 2	Tertile 3
Characteristic	n = 96	n = 96	n = 96
Age (years)	51.7 ${(0.88)}^{\text{a}}$	48.0 ${(0.88)}^{\text{b}}$	46.1 ${(0.88)}^{\text{b}}$
Weight (kg)^4	60.0 (0.74)	59.9 (0.72)	60.6 (0.73)
BMI (kg/m^2)	22.9 (0.23)	22.6 (0.23)	23.0 (0.23)
Waist Circumference (cm)	71.9 (0.63)	72.0 (0.62)	73.4 (0.63)
Physical Activity Index^5	37.5 (0.65)	37.4 (0.64)	36.2 (0.65)
Current Smoker (%)	10.4	12.5	19.8
Smoking (pack years)	6.0 ${(1.46)}^{\text{a}}$	6.8 ${(1.40)}^{\text{a}}$	11.8 ${(1.44)}^{\text{b}}$
Current Dieter (%)	94.7	94.7	94.6
Fluctuating Weight (%)	10.1	9.8	11.4
Postmenopausal (%)	59.4	35.4	36.5
On Hormone Replacement Therapy (%)	9.4	9.5	6.3
Parity (# of births)	2.1 (0.15)	2.6 (0.14)	2.4 (0.14)
Systolic Blood Pressure (mmHg)	111.6 (1.03)	110.3 (1.00)	110.9 (1.01)
Diastolic Blood Pressure (mmHg)	71.8 (0.72)	70.3 (0.70)	70.9 (0.71)
Total Cholesterol (mmol/L)^6	5.11 (0.09)	4.98 (0.08)	5.05 (0.09)
High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (mmol/L)	1.64 (0.03)	1.72 (0.03)	1.72 (0.03)
Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (mmol/L)	3.08 (0.08)	2.9 (0.08)	2.98 (0.08)
Triglycerides (mmol/L)^7	0.84 (0.03)	0.77 (0.03)	0.75 (0.03)
Glucose (mmol/L)^8	4.75 (0.04)	4.77 (0.04)	4.78 (0.04)

¹Values are least squares means (SE) or percent. The GLM procedure in SAS (analysis of covariance) was used to obtain age-adjusted means for continuous variables and to identify subgroups that differed significantly. Logistic regression (SAS procedure LOGISTIC) was used to obtain age-adjusted proportions for dichotomous variables and to identify subgroups that differed significantly. Both sets of analyses used Bonferroni’s correction for each variable.
²Values in a row with different superscript letters are significantly different from each other ($P<.05$). Rows with no superscript letters indicate NS differences.
³The risk score was calculated from the consumption of 11 nutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fiber, calcium, alcohol, total fat, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, saturated fat, energy density, and total energy), which were ranked for each woman in the sample.
⁴To convert kg to pounds divide by 0.454.
⁵Physical Activity Index scores range from 24 (total bed rest) up to 120.
⁶To convert mmol/L cholesterol to mg/dL divide by 0.0259.
⁷To convert mmol/L triglyceride to mg/dL divide by 0.0113.
⁸To convert mmol/L glucose to mg/dL divide by 0.0555.