Dietary inflammation and cardiometabolic health in adolescents

BACKGROUND: The Children's Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DII) has been validated to characterize the inflammatory potential of an individual child's diet. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between C-DII and markers of cardiometabolic risk (adiposity, blood pressure [BP], lipids, albuminuria, glomerular hyperfiltration) in adolescents. METHODS: Participants aged 12-18 enrolled in NHANES from 2005 to 2014 who completed a 24-hour dietary recall were included in this cross-sectional study. Regression models adjusted for age, sex, race and height examined associations of C-DII quartiles stratified by weight status. RESULTS: Among adolescents (mean age 15 years), the average C-DII score was 0.86 (SE 0.04). When comparing C-DII quartile 4 (most pro-inflammatory) to quartile 1 (most anti-inflammatory), there was a positive association with albuminuria (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.02, 2.03). After stratifying by weight status, C-DII quartile was found to be significantly associated with albuminuria (OR 4.27, 95% CI 1.83, 9.92) and dyslipidemia (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.15, 3.03) in adolescents who were overweight. Among adolescents with obesity, C-DII quartile was associated with higher SBP (β = 5.07, 95% CI 2.55-7.59) and lower DBP (β = -4.14, 95% CI -6.74, -1.54). CONCLUSION: Consuming a pro-inflammatory diet in adolescence was associated with alterations in albuminuria, lipid and BP measures.