Association between composite dietary antioxidant index and sarcopenic obesity among United States adults: Evidence...

Dietary patterns and oxidative stress have been strongly related to sarcopenic obesity (SO), but to our knowledge there have been no studies addressing the relation between the Composite Dietary Antioxidant Index (CDAI) and SO among adults. The focus of the present work was examining the possible relationship between the CDAI as well as components and SO, thus providing relevant dietary guidance for the prevention and treatment of SO.

We analyzed the 2001-2006 and 2011-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys data. The CDAI was determined by absorption of six dietary antioxidants of 24-h dietary recall interviews. Multivariable regression analysis was performed for examining the association between CDAI and its components and SO. The associations were further examined using restricted cubic spline, mediation, subgroup, and sensitivity analyses.

A total of 13 393 subjects were included, with an average age of 42.47 ± 0.23 y. After adjusting for all confounders, the CDAI showed a negative relationship to SO. The SO prevalence decreased by 52.7% in subjects of the highest quartile in comparison with subjects of the lowest quartile of the CDAI. RCS analysis suggested the CDAI was non-linearly related to SO.

The CDAI showed negative and non-linear association with SO prevalence, emphasizing that optimizing antioxidant dietary patterns is essential for reducing SO prevalence. These results, if confirmed, suggest that the CDAI may be a potential anti-SO approach.