Association between dietary diversity and nutrients adequacy in Chinese adults.

Objective To estimate the diet diversity of adults aged 18-59 years,to understand whether it was associated with nutrients adequacy.Method Using 24 h diet recall data of 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey,the dietary diversity score(DDS) was calculated.The associations between DDS and nutrients adequacy ratio(NAR),and mean adequacy ratio(MAR) of 17 nutrients were examined.Results Rural residents consumed less diverse diets than urban.Dairy product was the most commonly neglected food group.The average of MAR increased as DDS increased.Rural residents had higher MAR(0.78) than urban(0.75) with the same DDS,and the total number of nutrients with adequacy(NAR-N) was found also higher in rural than in urban.DDS and diversity scores within food groups were correlated with intake of energy and other nutrients positively.The associations of DDS within/across food groups with MAR were positive,with coefficients 0.30,0.25 and 0.22 respectively for meat,vegetable and soy.Meat contributed the most for MAR.DDS was significantly correlated with NAR and NAR-N of energy,protein,fat,Ca,P,K,Zn,Fe,Se,Vitamin A,E,niacin and riboflavin.Conclusion Urban residents consume more diverse foods than rural.Dairy product is the most commonly neglected food group in Chinese diet.DDS can be used as a simple and quick indicator for nutrients adequacy of the diet.