Evaluation of dietary quality using Malaysian Healthy Eating Index and its relationships with cardiometabolic risk factors in Malaysian adolescents

Introduction: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate relationships between diet quality assessed by Malaysian Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents aged 13 years. Methods: 336 adolescents from various public secondary schools provided information on sociodemography and their anthropometric measurements including height (cm), weight (kg) and waist circumference (cm) were measured. Body mass index (BMI) was estimated thereafter. Dietary intakes assessed using a validated adolescent food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to estimate Malaysian HEI. Biomarker parameters including lipid profile, fasting glucose, insulin and insulin resistance were also assessed. Associations of diet quality indicators to cardiometabolic risk factors were examined using regression models. Results: The overall diet quality of the adolescents was rather poor (49%), with a greater percentage of males were found to have low dietary quality score compared to females (56% vs. 39%; p