association of weight status with dietary intake and dietary diversity score in 10 - 12-year-old children in tehran: a cross-sectional study

Background: obesity in school-aged children has become a major public health concern. objectives: this study aimed to investigate the relationship between weight status, dietary behavior and diet diversity in 10 to 12-year-old students in the city of tehran. methods: the sample included 487 students (51.8% girls) aged 10 - 12 years. weight, height as well as age- and sex-specific bmi z-scores were determined. demographics (sex, age, birth order and parental age) and socioeconomic characteristics (family size, parents’ educational level, occupation, ethnicity and housing status) were assessed by a questionnaire. dietary intake was assessed through interview using 3-day 24-hours dietary recalls. results: based on the bmi z-scores of the children, 1.9%, 47.9%, 27.2% and 22.8% were thin, normal, overweight and obese, respectively. in boys, mother’s educational level; and among girls, being at post-menarche stage and paternal job position were significantly associated with their weight status (p = 0.08, p = 0.05, p = 0.05, respectively). boys in the lowest tertile for energy intake were at lower risk of obesity (or = 0.04; 95% ci: 0.02 - 0.97) and those in the middle tertile of grains diversity score had a greater risk of obesity (or = 5.84; 95% ci: 1.29 - 26.42) in comparison with those in the highest tertile. in girls, those in the lowest tertile of dairy diversity had higher risk of overweight compared to those in the highest tertile (or = 9.77; 95% ci: 1.60 - 58.57). conclusions: findings indicate that energy intake and dietary diversity can affect the risk of overweight and obesity in preadolescents. further studies are required to explore a more generalizable relationship between dietary intake and weight.