Relationship among practicing healthy diet and metabolic syndrome indicators in adults - From the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2013~2014

Purpose The purpose of the present study is to identify the relationship between practicing healthy diet and metabolic syndrome indicators in Koreans. Methods This research is a cross-sectional study based on the 2013~2014 Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. This study investigated 6,748 adults aged 19 to 64 yr (19~49 yr: n = 4,230, 50~64 yr: n = 2,518) to examine practice of healthy diet and metabolic syndrome indicators. In this study, according to practicing healthy diet, we classified subjects into the Practicing healthy diet (PHD) group (19~49 yr: n = 1,782, 50~64 yr: n = 937) and Non-practicing healthy diet (NPHD) group (19~49 yr: n = 2,448, 50~64 yr: n = 1,581). PHD score was determined by adding the number of practicing factors: adequate fat intake, sodium intake less than equal to 2,000 mg/day, fruit and vegetable intake greater than or equal to 500 g/day, and using nutrition label information in food selection. Results Female adults had a larger proportion of subjects who practiced a healthy diet compared to male adults (p less than 0.001), and the percentages of 19~49 yr and 50~64 yr were 40.46% and 37.07%, respectively. The PHD group consumed significantly more calcium, vitamin B1, B2, and vitamin C density compared to the NPHD group. In 50~64 yr females, the subjects practicing healthy diet (PHD score greater than or equal to 2) was inversely associated with risk of abdominal obesity (OR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54~0.93, p value = 0.0131) and metabolic syndrome (OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.52~0.94, p value = 0.0166) after adjustments for multiple confounding factors, compared with the lower PHD score (PHD score less than equsl to 1). Conclusion Good dietary practice such as adequate fat intake, sodium intake less than or equal to 2,000 mg/day, sufficient fruit and vegetable intake, and using nutrition label information in food selection could be useful in decreasing metabolic syndrome risk of Korean adults.