The dietary inflammatory index and metabolic health of population-based Chinese elderly

This study evaluated the relationship between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and metabolic health in the Chinese elderly.

A total of 6,730 participants from the "Community-based Cardiovascular and Health Promotion Study" (CoCHPS) cohort were included in this study. The DII scores were acquired using a validated 125-item food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (ranged -5.84 to 3.90). The correlation of DII with metabolic health indexes was evaluated with logistic regression and multivariable cox regression using SPSS and R software.

Compared with low DII scores, subjects in the highest DII score quartiles had higher odds of metabolic dysfunction (OR=1.36, 95% CI: 1.07-1.68, p trend=0.023). In the subgroup analyses, the effect of a pro-inflammatory diet on metabolic dysfunction was particularly evident among people with hyperglycaemia (HR=1.58, 95% CI: 1.35-2.14), hypertension (HR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.07-2.09), dyslipidemia (HR=1.45, 95% CI: 1.24-1.87), abdominal obesity (HR=2.16, 95% CI: 1.57-2.96), and ≥60 years old (HR=1.32, 95% CI: 1.04-1.56) or who were women (HR=1.35, 95% CI: 1.08-1.67).

DII score was associated with metabolic health. Further studies are needed to deepen our understanding of dietary parameters and different populations.