The Diet–Lifestyle Index evaluating the quality of eating and lifestyle behaviours in relation to the prevalence of overweight/obesity in adolescents

Abstract

We sought to develop an index that incorporated various dietary and lifestyle behaviours that are associated with overweight/obesity status in adolescents. We assigned discrete scores into each component of the proposed index. The Diet–Lifestyle Index ranged from 11 to 57. We examined the accuracy of the index in relation to adolescents’ body mass status using a sample of 2,008 students. The mean score of the index was 30.9±5.2 for boys and 31.4±4.7 for girls. The index was inversely associated with the odds of being obese/overweight (odds ratio = 0.93, 95% confidence interval=0.90–0.96), after adjusting for age and gender. Particularly, an 11/57-unit increase of the index was associated with a 6% and 9% decrease in the odds of being overweight/obesity in boys and girls, respectively (P<0.001). Thus, the proposed Diet–Lifestyle Index could be a useful tool in a primary healthcare setting for preventing obesity in adolescence.

• Adolescents
• index
• diet quality
• obesity
• lifestyle
• body mass index