# The association of dietary carbohydrate quality and quantity with obesity among Iranian adolescents: a case-control study

## TL;DR

This study found that better quality and lower quantity of carbohydrate intake are linked to lower odds of obesity in Iranian adolescents.

## Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the relationship between carbohydrate diet quality and quantity with obesity in Iranian adolescents.

## Key findings

- Higher low carbohydrate diet scores were associated with lower odds of being overweight or obese.
- Better carbohydrate quality was strongly linked to reduced obesity risk in adolescents.
- The study used a case-control design with matched participants to assess dietary and anthropometric data.

## Abstract

Adolescent obesity is considered as a major health concern worldwide which is closely linked to the quality of diet. The purpose of the present study was to assess the carbohydrate quality and quantity in relation to odds of overweight and obesity in adolescents.

This case-control study with a 1:1 ratio was conducted on 406 adolescents (14 to 18 years old) matched for age and gender. Participants were selected by multistage cluster random sampling method from March to October 2019 in Shiraz, Iran. Dietary intakes of the study population were assessed by a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Also anthropometric indices were measured using standard methods and demographic information was recorded via face to face interview. The relation between low carbohydrate diet score (LCDS) and carbohydrate quality index (CQI), and odds of obesity was evaluated by multiple Logistic regression.

After adjusting the role of potential confounders, the participants in the third tertiles of LCDS (OR = 0.443, 95% CI = (0.260 to 0.755)) and CQI (OR = 0.005, 95% CI = (0.001 to 0.025)) had less odds of being overweight and obese compared to the first tertile.

The present study found an inverse relationship between dietary quantity and quality of carbohydrate intake and the odds of overweight and obesity in a sample of Iranian adolescents.