Association of adherence to the dietary approach to stop hypertension diet and diet quality indices among women in Tehran: A cross-sectional study

Background: Examining dietary approach to stop hypertension (DASH) diet based on other dietary quality indices can be helpful to clarify positive aspects of this healthy dietary pattern. We aimed to examine the association between the DASH diet score and some diet quality indices among Iranian women. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 304 women aged 20 to 50 years old were recruited. Dietary diversity score (DDS), dietary energy density (DED), adherence to DASH diet, Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and mean adequacy ratio (MAR) were examined as suggested by previous articles. Dietary quality indices, anthropometric indices, and dietary intake were categorized based on DASH tertiles. Semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire with 168 items was used for dietary assessment. Results: There were no significant differences in the demographic characteristics of participants across DASH tertiles (P> 0.05). Participants who adhered more to the DASH diet had lower DED than those with lower adherence (0.99 +/- 0.35 vs 1.26 +/- 0.30; P=0.01). Significant differences were observed in the index of DDS across tertiles (P=0.01), however no differences in nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) and MAR (0.93) index across the DASH categories were found. Additionally, DDS to DED in the top tertile of the DASH diet was greater than the bottom one (6.7 +/- 2.9 vs 4.4 +/- 1.9; P=0.001). Conclusion: The present study indicated that greater adherence to the DASH diet is inversely associated with DED and AHEI. As well as, there was a positive association between the DASH diet and DDS/DED ratio. However, more studies are needed to confirm the results of this study.