AUTHOR=Bazshahi Elham , Pourreza Sanaz , Imani Hossein , Azadbakht Leila , Ebaditabar Mojdeh , Davarzani Samira , Babaei Nadia , Naghshi Sina , Djafarian Kurosh , Shab-Bidar Sakineh 

TITLE=The Association of Dietary Energy Density and Body Composition Components in a Sample of Iranian Adults

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.751148

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2021.751148

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=Background: We aimed to investigate the association between energy density (ED) of diet and body composition components in Iranian adults. 
Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional study on 267 adults in Tehran. We obtained ED (kcal/g) in two most common methods: ED1, energy density from foods only with exclusion of all beverages and ED2, from foods and all beverages. Body composition was measured by multi-frequency bio-impedance analysis. To find the exact association we used both linear and binary regression analysis in three adjusted models. 
Results: The mean ED were calculated for ED1 (1.34±0.23 kcal/g) and ED2 (0.89 ± 0.20 kcal/g). Increasing the ED of the diet in both methods was associated with higher intakes of dietary fat, saturated fatty acid, monounsaturated fatty acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid, accompanied by lower intakes of fruits, vegetables and some vitamins and minerals. After adjusting for covariates, the only significant positive relationship was between fat free mass index with ED1 (β = 4/44, P =0.02). No significant relationship was found between the odds ratio and the adjusted confidence interval between ED1 and ED2 with fat mass index, abdominal obesity, and other anthropometric indices and body composition components after considering the confounders. 
Conclusion: The present study supports the positive association between ED and poor dietary quality. However, our findings did not show significant associations of dietary energy density with anthropometric indices and body composition components. Further well-designed studies are required to investigate the exact link between DED and body composition.