(P14-003-23) Diet Quality of Participants in a Holistic Health-Related Intervention To Reduce Obesity and Overweight in Adults

Objectives: Obesity, overweight and unemployment are intertwined, with common underlying causes particularly poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle. The aim of this study was to assess dietary intake and diet quality of participants enrolled in a holistic health-related intervention to reduce obesity and unemployment.

Methods: This data was collected as part of the Adding to Social capital and individual Potential In disadvantaged Regions (ASPIRE) study which aims to reduce obesity and unemployment through the implementation of a holistic health-related intervention. A 183-food item validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (adapted version of the Metacardis and European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition; EPIC FFQs) was used to collect data on dietary intake to reflect the differences in both countries. Dietary intake data from the food frequency questionnaire was analyzed using the FETA software. Diet quality was computed using The Diet Quality Index – International (DQI-I), a measure that was developed to allow for international comparisons, assess the risk for chronic disease and incorporates dietary aspects contributing to quality, including diversity, adequacy, moderation, and balance.

Results: A total of 230 participants, 67.4% female were included in this analysis. Average age of participants was 41.3±12.8 years and the majority of participants were living in France (62.2%). The average dietary quality was 73.5 (where 0 = the poorest and 100 = the highest dietary quality). Analysis focused on the different components of the DQI-I indicated that older participants had better DQI-I adequacy score (p = 0.027). country-specific differences in DQI-I were found using a linear mixed effects model with participants from the UK having significantly higher moderation scores compared to participants from France (p = 0.01) while participants from France had higher adequacy scores (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence on diet quality for individuals living with obesity or unemployed in France and the UK. The findings highlight a need for country-specific and tailored strategies to improve diet quality in individuals who are unemployed or living with obesity.

Funding Sources: This work is funded by grants from the EU Interreg European Regional Development Fund.