Pro-Inflammatory Diet Is Associated with Adiposity during Childhood and with Adipokines and Inflammatory Markers at...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Nutrition
• Inflammation Research
• Childhood Obesity

Background:

• Limited evidence exists on the inflammatory potential of diet in children.
• Dietary inflammatory index requires further investigation regarding its impact on child health outcomes.
• Understanding diet-inflammation-adiposity links is crucial for early life interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between the Children's Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DII) from ages 5 to 11 years.
• To assess the relationship between C-DII and adiposity and inflammatory biomarkers in Mexican children.
• To explore C-DII trajectories and their impact on health markers over time.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 726 children from a birth cohort study with dietary and adiposity data at ages 5, 7, and 11 years.
• Measurement of inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6, hsCRP, leptin, adiponectin) in 286 children at age 11.
• Latent class linear mixed models for C-DII trajectories; linear mixed models and regression analyses for adiposity and biomarkers.

Main Results:

• In girls, higher C-DII scores correlated with increased adiposity (abdominal circumference, skinfold sum, BMI Z-score).
• At age 11, C-DII was associated with elevated leptin and hsCRP, and a lower adiponectin/leptin ratio in girls.
• In boys, a specific C-DII trajectory was linked to increased leptin and decreased adiponectin/leptin ratio.

Conclusions:

• The inflammatory potential of diet may significantly influence adiposity development in girls.
• Dietary inflammatory patterns impact adipose tissue homeostasis and chronic subclinical inflammation in children.
• Early life dietary choices have lasting effects on child health, emphasizing the need for nutritional guidance.