ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1600925
Dietary Antioxidants and Obesity: A New Perspective on the Role of Composite Dietary Antioxidant Index (CDAI) in Reducing Obesity Risk Using a Dual-Criteria Definition
Provisionally accepted
- Beijing Health Vocational College, Beijing, China
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Objective: To investigate the association between the Composite Dietary Antioxidant Index (CDAI) and obesity defined by both BMI and waist circumference (WC).Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2018. Multivariable logistic regression models and restricted cubic splines were used to assess the relationship between CDAI and obesity, defined as BMI ≥30 kg/m² combined with WC ≥88 cm (women) or ≥102 cm (men).Models were adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and comorbidity factors. A stratified analysis and sensitivity analysis were also conducted.Results: Among 17,067 participants, CDAI was inversely associated with obesity (OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95-0.99). Participants in the highest CDAI quartile had a 23% lower obesity risk compared to the lowest quartile (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.62-0.95). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results.CDAI is inversely associated with obesity defined by dual criteria, suggesting that dietary antioxidants may play a protective role in obesity prevention. By using a more comprehensive definition of obesity, our study provides insights that are more directly applicable to clinical practice and public health strategies aimed at reducing obesity-related morbidity and mortality.
Keywords: Composite Dietary Antioxidant Index, Obesity, NHANES, BMI, Waist Circumference
Received: 27 Mar 2025; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Wang, Zhang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yiqian Chen, Beijing Health Vocational College, Beijing, China
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