. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Dec 1.

Published in final edited form as: J Hum Nutr Diet. 2021 May 14;34(6):1014–1021. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12873

Table 3.

Associations between the Mediterranean Diet Score and Alternate Healthy Eating Index and central obesity

	Central obesity (NCEP criteria)		Central obesity (IDF criteria)
	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
MeDS, one-unit increase
Age-adjusted	0.88	(0.75, 1.03)	0.89	(0.75, 1.07)
Fully adjusted	0.78^*	(0.63, 0.97)	0.82	(0.64, 1.06)
AHEI, 10-unit increase
Age-adjusted	0.82	(0.63, 1.07)	0.82	(0.61, 1.11)
Fully adjusted	0.61^*	(0.42, 0.90)	0.64^*	(0.41, 0.99)
MeDS, z score
Age-adjusted	0.79	(0.59, 1.05)	0.82	(0.59, 1.13)
Fully adjusted	0.64^*	(0.43, 0.95)	0.70	(0.45, 1.10)
AHEI, z score
Age-adjusted	0.80	(0.59, 1.08)	0.80	(0.57, 1.13)
Fully adjusted	0.57^*	(0.37, 0.89)	0.60^*	(0.37, 0.99)

p<0.05

The NCEP criteria for central obesity is waist circumference >102 cm for males and >88 cm for females.(31) The IDF criteria for central obesity is waist circumference >94 cm for makes and >80 cm for females.(30)

MeDS consists of nine components, each with a value of 0 (lower intake) or 1 (higher intake), compiling into a score of 0–9. AHEI consists of 11 components, each with a score of 0 (lowest intake) to 10 (highest intake), which are added to create a score ranging from 0 to 110.

Associations were assessed using logistic regression models with covariates: sex, age, smoking status, physical activity score, education, income status, marriage status, diabetes status, and ethnicity. The ORs reflect the odds per one-unit increase of MeDS and 10-unit increase of AHEI.