Dietary Inflammatory Index in Relation to Carotid Intima Media Thickness among Overweight or Obese Children and Adolescents

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Low-grade systematic inflammation triggers atrial wall thickening, which predisposes to several cardiovascular events. Since diet is a strong moderator of systematic inflammation, the literature review-based dietary inflammatory index (DII®) score has been recently introduced for evaluating inflammatory properties of an individual’s diet. The aim of the present study was to assess the association of DII, with carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) among overweight or obese children and adolescents. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A total of 339 children and adolescents (48% girls) aged from 6 to 13 years, with WHO body mass index z-score &#x3e;1 were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. A valid and reliable semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary intakes and calculate DII score. cIMT was measured in the common carotid artery with high-resolution ultrasonography. <b><i>Results:</i></b> In this cross-sectional study, the mean ± SD age of participants was 9.3 ± 1.7 years. Among participants, 68% were obese and 83% were in the pubertal stage. DII ranged from –5.43 to 4.42, with the mean of –2.83 in the lowest, and 1.25 in the highest tertile of DII. When fit as a continuous variable, DII score had no significant association with cIMT after adjusting for potential confounders. However, the participants in the highest DII score tertile compared to the lowest had 2.46-fold increased risk of high cIMT in the multivariable adjusted model (<i>p</i> for trend = 0.02). <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> Higher DII scores were associated with increased risk of high cIMT.