Association of a Priori-Defined Dietary Patterns with Anthropometric Measurements: A Cross-Sectional Study in Mexican Women

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate associations between a priori defined dietary patterns and anthropometric measures in Mexican women. A total of 1062 women aged 35 to 69 years old from the control participants of the CAMA (Cancer de Mama) study, a multi-center population-based case-control study on breast cancer conducted in Mexico, were interviewed and dietary intakes were assessed using questionnaires. The following indices were derived from these data: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score, the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), the Mediterranean Diet Score (aMED), the Diet Quality Index (DQI), glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL). Adjusting for age, center, educational level, physical activity and energy intake, a high GI was positively associated with a higher body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Higher adherence to aMED was associated with lower WC and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) but no significant association was observed with other a priori dietary patterns. In this population of Mexican women, higher adherence to Mediterranean diet was associated with lower WC but other a priori dietary scores appeared to be of limited value in exploring the association between diet and anthropometric measures.