Ellisras Longitudinal Study conference 2017: The relationship between dietary intake and body mass index among young rural adults in South Africa aged 18 to 30 years (ELS 18).

AIM

To assess the relationship between dietary intake and adiposity in young rural South African adults.

METHODS

A total of 728 young adults participated and dietary intake was assessed using the 24-hour recall method. Linear regression models were used to determine the association between dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) before and after adjustment for age and gender.

RESULTS

Females showed higher mean BMI values than males in all age groups. An age group of 27- to 30-year-old females had a mean value of 28.1 kg/m while males had a mean value of 21.9 kg/m. The distribution of BMI categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) was 20.5, 61.7, 9.3 and 3.1% in males, and 8.6, 42.5, 23.1 and 25.8% in females (p ≤ 0.05). Cholesterol intake was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) associated with BMI (beta = 0.002, 95% CI: 0.00-0.004) as well as overweight and obesity (odds ratio = 1.734; 95% CI: -1.09-2.75) after adjustment for age and gender.

CONCLUSIONS

There was a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among rural Ellisras females. Moreover, increasing cholesterol intake was associated with overweight and obesityin the overall sample.