Dietary fat quantity and quality in relation to general and abdominal obesity in women: a cross-sectional study from Ghana

BACKGROUND: Although relationships between obesity and total fat and fat types have been widely examined, the associations between the relative proportions of fatty acids calculated in the form of indices and obesity/overweight are lacking. The objective of this study was to assess associations between dietary fat quality indices and odds of obesity/overweight in women from Ghana. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, dietary information was obtained using 24-h dietary recall. The odds of obesity were evaluated across quintiles of specific DFQ indices [atherogenicity index (AI), thrombogenic index (TI), hypo- and hypercholesterolemic fatty acids ratio (h/H), omega-3 to omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids ratio (∑ω-3/∑ω-6), polyunsaturated fatty acids/saturated fatty acids ratio (PSR), dietary lipophilic index (LI) and percentage of energy from total fat (TF)]. RESULTS: After adjustment for covariates, general obesity and overweight were inversely associated with ∑ω-3/∑ω-6 ratio (OR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.24–1.63; P for trend (P) = 0.005) and positively with TI (4.14; 95% CI: 1.78–9.66; P = 0.01) and LI (2.49; 95% CI: 1.14–5.43; P = 0.01). The odds of abdominal obesity based on waist circumference (WC) were significantly higher among participants in the fifth quintile (Q) compared with those in the first Q of AI (1.24; 95% CI: 0.56–2.74; P = 0.01), TI (4.14; 95% CI: 1.78–9.66; P = 0.009), LI (2.11; 95% CI: 0.98–4.55; P = 0.02) and TF (1.59; 95% CI: (0.73–3.46; P = 0.003). Similarly, waist to height ratio (WHtR) was positively associated with AI (2.89; 95% CI: 1.32–6.31; P = 0.04), TI (2.65; 95% CI: 1.22–5.76; P = 0.03), LI (3.32; 95% CI: 1.52–7.28; P = 0.007) and TF (1.83; 95% CI: 0.85–3.93; P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: There was an inverse association between ∑ω-3/∑ω-6 ratio and general obesity and WC. We also found positive associations between abdominal obesity and AI and TF. Furthermore, TI and LI showed positive relationships with both general and abdominal obesity. Therefore, intake of dietary fatty acids in favor of higher ratios of ∑ω-3/∑ω-6 may be important in obesity prevention.