Ellisras Longitudinal Study 2017 : the relationship between dietary intake and body mass index among young rural adults in South Africa aged 18 to 30 years (ELS 18)

Aim: To assess the relationship between dietary intake and adiposity in young rural South African adults.Methods: A total of 728 young adults participated and dietary intake was assessed using the 24-hour recall method. Linear regression models were used to determine the association between dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) before and after adjustment for age and gender.Results: Females showed higher mean BMI values than males in all age groups. An age group of 27- to 30-year-old females had a mean value of 28.1 kg/m2 while males had a mean value of 21.9 kg/m2. The distribution of BMI categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) was 20.5, 61.7, 9.3 and 3.1% in males, and 8.6, 42.5, 23.1 and 25.8% in females (p ≤ 0.05). Cholesterol intake was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) associated with BMI (beta = 0.002, 95% CI: 0.00–0.004) as well as overweight and obesity (odds ratio = 1.734; 95% CI: –1.09–2.75) after adjustment for age and gender.Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among rural Ellisras females. Moreover, increasing cholesterol intake was associated with overweight and obesity in the overall sample.