Association between Dietary Inflammatory Index and Metabolic Syndrome in the General Korean Population

Inflammation is thought to be partly responsible for metabolic syndrome (MetS). Recently, dietary inflammatory index (DII) was developed to calculate the overall inflammatory potential of a diet. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between DII and MetS, as well as MetS components, using nationally representative survey data. The study sample consisted of 9291 Korean adults (aged 19–65 years, 3682 men and 5609 women) who participated in the sixth (2013–2015) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. DII values were calculated using 24-h dietary recall data. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the association between DII and MetS by sex. In the multivariate logistic regression model, the top DII quartile (Q4), was positively associated with MetS prevalence in men (Q4 vs. Q1, OR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.06–1.85; p for linear trend = 0.008) and in postmenopausal women (Q4 vs. Q1, OR = 1.67; 95% CI = 1.15–2.44; p for linear trend = 0.008). The top DII quartile was also positively associated with the prevalence of hyperglycemia in men and the prevalence of central obesity in postmenopausal women. Further studies using prospective cohorts are needed to identify the causal relationship between DII and MetS.