The healthy/unhealthy dietary pattern is associated with resting metabolic rate status among women with overweight/obesity

BACKGROUND: Although various dietary patterns have been indicated to be associated with the resting metabolic rate [RMR], limited data are available in this field. This study was therefore focused on the association between dietary patterns and resting metabolic rate among participants with overweight and obesity. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 304 women with overweight or obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2)), aged 18–50. Anthropometric assessments, physical activity and biochemical measurements were assessed. RMR was also measured by means of indirect calorimetry. Dietary intake of participants was evaluated by 147-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire [FFQ]. RESULTS: There was a significant association between higher adherence to the healthy dietary pattern [HDP] and RMR (P = 0.05), intakes of protein (P = 0.003), minerals (P = 0.001) as well as fat free mass [FFM] (P = 0.002), bone mineral content (P = 0.001), skeletal muscle mass (P = 0.001), soft lean mass (P = 0.002) and visceral fat area (P = 0.05). Also, there was a considerable association between higher adherence to the unhealthy dietary pattern [UHDP] and fasting blood sugar [FBS] (P = 0.05). Using multinomial logistic regression has been shown that the medium adherence to the HDP was marginally significant with decreased resting metabolic rate [Dec. RMR] group in crude model (OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.28–1.05, P = 0.07). After controlling for various confounders such as age, FFM, physical activity, and energy intake, the association between Dec. RMR group and the lowest quartile of the HDP (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.14–0.91, P = 0.03) became significant as well as the association between Dec. RMR group and medium adherence to the HDP (OR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.18–0.97, P = 0.04). The medium adherence to the UHDP in crude model was also significant with increased resting metabolic rate [Inc. RMR] group (OR: 2.59; 95% CI: 1.01–6.65, P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that there are significant associations between dietary patterns and RMR status. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12902-022-00958-z.