A systematic review of observational studies on the association between diet quality patterns and visceral adipose tissue

Abstract

Beyond obesity, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) has emerged as an important predictor of chronic disease, but the role of diet quality patterns (DQP) in VAT development is not well defined. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of how various DQP are associated with VAT via literature searches in PubMed and EMBASE. We included observational investigations in disease-free adults/adolescents that related DQP to VAT assessed by imaging methods. The studies were evaluated separately for a priori and a posteriori DQP and according to design differences. Study quality was assessed using the Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies of Interventions tool. Of the 1807 screened articles, thirty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of a priori indices, for example, the Healthy Eating Index, showed significant inverse associations with VAT, while only a small proportion of a posteriori patterns were related to VAT. Results did not differ substantially by the method of exposure and outcome assessment or between studies with (n 20) or without (n 15) body-size adjustment, but significant findings were more common in younger v. older individuals, USA v. other populations and investigations with moderate v. serious risk of bias. The heterogeneity of the existing literature limited the ability to quantify the magnitude of the associations across studies. These findings suggest that a high-quality diet, as assessed by a priori DQP, is generally inversely associated with VAT, but results for a posteriori DQP are less consistent. As associations persisted after adjusting for body size, diet quality may beneficially influence VAT beyond its association with obesity.