Objective: To develop Chinese Children Dietary Index, the overall diet quality of children and adolescents; the association between overall diet quality and overweight/obesity among children in Chengdu.
Methods: Chinese Children Dietary Index was formulated based on the current Chinese Dietary Guidelines and Food Guide Pagoda for children and adolescents, consisting of 12 components. 1 997 children and adolescents aged 7-15 years in Chengdu were recruited and their diet quality was evaluated according to Chinese Food Guide Pagoda. Differences in percent body fat (PBF), fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI) between 3 categories as low, moderate, and high diet quality, were tested.
Results: The mean Chinese Children Dietary Index score for our population was 59.36 ± 11.50. The diet quality of 13-15 years old adolescents was the worst. 7-9 years old children with moderate diet quality had highest PBF (P = 0.04), while 10-12 years old children with higher diet quality had the lowest FFMI (P = 0.002).
Conclusion: The overall diet quality of children and adolescents in Chengdu could be reflected by Chinese Children Dietary Index. There was association between overall diet quality and overweight/obesity among children and adolescents. However, this association warrants more in depth evaluation in future studies.