Relationship Between the Healthy Eating Index and Biochemical Parameters of Adults

Abstract

Aim: This research was carried out to determine dietary patterns, food diversity and healthy eating index scores and to find the relationship between biochemical parameters and healthy eating index of adults. Subjects and methods: A total of 400 subjects, 230 females ( x ±SD=41.1±10.67 years) and 170 males ( x ±SD=41.4±11.27 years) were included in the study. In order to evaluate their nutritional status, a questionnaire was applied, anthropometric measurements were done and total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), C-reactive protein (CRP) were analysed in the blood samples. Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score was also calculated. Results: Mean ( x ±SD) HEI score was 61.6±10.94 and 60.9±9.69 points for males and females, respectively. After examination of relation between blood parameters and HEI, it was determined that there was an important relation (p<0.05) between CRP levels and HEI score categories of males, also the relation between triglyceride levels and HEI score categories of female individuals was statistically significant. The mean energy provided by fats was statistically different between LDL cholesterol groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: It is well known that inadequate and unbalanced nutrition cause diseases directly or indirectly. As a result of these facts, the role of dietary pattern in the protective and therapeutic health services is getting more and more important. Forming a dietary pattern according to individual and social characteristics will help preventing diseases and increasing quality of life. Therefore, nutritional training activities must be carried out by experts, food and nutrition guidelines which are peculiar to that society must be prepared, policies and plans must be established.