Diet Quality Is an Indicator of Disease Risk Factors in Hispanic College Freshmen.

Background: No studies have assessed the relationship between diet quality, using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), and adiposity, physical activity, and metabolic disease risk factors in a Hispanic college population.

Objective: To assess associations between diet quality and adiposity, metabolic health, and physical activity levels in a Hispanic college freshman population.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Measurements were obtained during a 4-hour in-person visit and included demographic information via questionnaire, height, weight, waist circumference, body mass index, body fat via BodPod, hepatic fat, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue via magnetic resonance imaging, glucose, insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and lipids via blood draw from fasting subjects, physical activity (ie, step counts per day and time spent in different intensity levels) via 7-day accelerometry, and dietary intake via three to four 24-hour dietary recalls. Dietary quality was calculated using the HEI-2015.

Participants/setting: Hispanic college freshmen (n=92), 18 to 19 years, 49% male, who were enrolled at University of Texas at Austin from 2014 to 2015.

Main Outcome Measures: Main outcome measures were diet quality and adiposity, metabolic health, and physical activity levels.

Statistical Analyses Performed: Linear regressions determined if dietary quality is related to adiposity, metabolic, and physical activity outcomes. A priori covariates included sex, body fat, and body mass index percentile (for metabolic models), and moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA, for adiposity and metabolic models).

Results: The average HEI-2015 total score was 54.9±13.4. A 1-point increase in HEI score was associated with 1.5 mL lower VAT (P=0.013); 8 minutes per day higher light activity (P=0.008), and 107 more step counts per day (P=0.002); and 0.10 μg/mL lower insulin (P=0.046) and 0.5 U lower HOMA-IR (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Results suggest that small improvements in diet quality may be positively associated with a reduction in metabolic disease risk, during a critical time period in a young person's life.