Metabolic syndrome among apparently healthy adults residing in Delhi: Do vegetarian diets have a protective effect?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) has reached epidemic levels, mainly attributed to sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, and obesity. Improved health is one of the reasons why people adopt a vegetarian diet. There are now sufficient data to support the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. However, the presumed beneficial health effects of a vegetarian diet are still unclear, particularly in the Indian context. This study assesses MetS among healthy urban adults following vegetarian and nonvegetarian diets and explores the protective role of vegetarian diets if any.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 healthy adults (35-60 years). An equal number of vegetarian and nonvegetarian male and female subjects were enrolled as per operational definitions. The prevalence of MetS was based on the NCEP-ATP III criteria.

RESULTS

The prevalence of MetS was the same among vegetarians (47.5%) and nonvegetarians (47%, = 1). Regression analysis showed that the MetS score was significantly associated with age (β: 0.04, CI: 0.02-0.05, < 0.001), gender (β: 0.51, CI: 0.29-0.74, < 0.001), and physical activity (β: -0.27, CI: -0.55 to 0.01, < 0.05). However, there was no significant association found between the prevalence of MetS and the type of diet (β: 0.13, CI: -0.10 to 0.36, = 0.261).

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlights a high prevalence of MetS among healthy urban adults residing in Delhi, India. The data, thus, show that a vegetarian diet did not have any protective impact against MetS, thus highlighting that it is important to consider the variations and quality of the vegetarian diets that negatively affect the body composition and contribute to the development of subsequent risk of developing MetS.