The link between dietary diversity and body composition in New Zealand European, Māori and Pacific women : the women's EXPLORE study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
Loading...
Date
2019
DOI
Open Access Location
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Massey university
Rights
The Author
Abstract
Eating a diverse diet improves diet quality and nutritional adequacy, but may be higher in
energy and discretionary foods, which are associated with obesity. We aimed to utilise a
newly validated dietary diversity questionnaire (DDQ) to explore the dietary diversity and
food variety of New Zealand European, Māori and Pacific women and how dietary diversity
and food variety may link to different body composition profiles (BCPs).
Women’s (n=235) waist circumference, body mass index and body fat percentage (BF%) was
used to categorise them into one of three BCP groups (normal-fat, hidden-fat, apparent-
fat). Dietary intake was assessed using a Food Frequency Questionnaire (energy and
nutrients), alongside a validated DDQ, which assessed participants dietary diversity and
food variety scores (DDS and FVS).
Dietary diversity was high (88%, 22/25) whilst food variety was comparatively low (31%,
78/237), especially within carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and seafood. Overall, DDS and
nutritious-DDS was lower for Pacific participants (P<0.005), whilst discretionary-FVS was
higher for Māori and Pacific participants (both P<0.001). Regarding obesity, nutritious-DDS
was higher in participants with a non-obese BMI (P=0.024) and BF% (P=0.029), compared
to obese participants. Both DDS and N-DDS negatively correlated to WC and BF% (P<0.005).
Participants in the highest tertile of DDS and nutritious-DDS had a lower WC (P=0.015,
P<0.001), BMI (P=0.048, P=0.004), and BF% (P=0.002, P=0.011), despite consuming more
energy (P=0.016). We were unable to demonstrate any significant anthropometric
differences between tertiles of discretionary DDS nor discretionary FVS.
Our results support previous prospective studies, showing that consuming an increased
variety of nutritious foods may be associated with reduced female obesity, possibly more
so than omitting discretionary foods. Health promotion should encourage exchanging
rather than excluding, discretionary foods.
Description
Keywords
Women, Nutrition, New Zealand, Nutrition surveys, Food habits, Body composition, dietary diversity, food variety, diet quality, New Zealand women