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Better diet quality is associated with reduced body pain in adults regardless of adiposity: Findings from the Whyalla Intergenerational Study of Health
Previous research has linked dietary intake to pain and physical function, but it remains uncertain whether adiposity plays a mediating role in these relationships. This study by Ward et al. (2024) investigated the possible mediating role of adiposity (evaluated by waist circumference [WC], body mass index [BMI], or body fat [BF]) on the links between diet quality and physical function or pain using data from the Whyalla Intergenerational Study of Health (n = 654, 57% women). Data analysis was employed to test the hypothesis that adiposity would mediate the relationship between diet quality (measured by the Dietary Guideline Index (DGI), including total, core, or non-core food scores) and pain (measured by the SF-36 bodily pain scale (SF36-BPS)) or physical function (measured by grip strength). The analysis was performed overall and separately by gender. The association between pain and food quality was not shown to be mediated by adiposity. However, direct effects were observed between better diet quality (as reflected by higher DGI total scores) and reduced bodily pain, independent of adiposity. This effect was also observed for DGI core food scores. In women, similar direct effects were found between DGI scores and both pain and grip strength, with stronger associations observed for DGI core food scores, as well as between DGI total scores and grip strength. The study found that better diet quality was associated with lower levels of bodily pain, independent of adiposity. These findings emphasize the potential importance of diet quality in managing pain and improving function, particularly in women. [NPID: Diet, diet quality, adiposity, pain mediation]
Year: 2024
