the association between major dietary pattern and diabetes type 2

background: diabetes is a major risk factor of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease with high mortality. prevalence of diabetes type 2 is increasing in middle eastand iran. in the current study, relationship between major food patterns and diabetes type 2 were assessed. methods: in this case control study, 332 subjects (110 newly diagnosed cases and 222 controls); 43-77 years of age were selected with simple sampling method. a valid semi- quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary intakes of subjects. anthropometric characteristics and blood pressure were measured with standard instructions and body mass index (bmi) and waist to hip ratio (w/h) were calculated. blood sample was gathered in order to metabolic variables assessment. factor analysis was used to identify major food patterns. relationship between major food patterns and diabetes type 2 was assessed by logistic regression analysis. findings: three major food patterns were identified in our study subjects: the healthy food pattern (rich in vegetables, vegetable oils, fish, fruits and nuts), the mixed food pattern (high consumption of salt, organ meats, dried fruits, poultry, tea, low- fat dairy products and other vegetables) and the traditional food pattern (high consumption of garlic, dough, high- fat dairy products, dried fruits, red meats, grains and animal fat). after controlling for confounding variables, subjects in the highest quartile of mixed and traditional food patterns had 117% (odds ratio: 2.17 and 95% ci: 1.0-4.50) and 113% (odds ratio: 2.13 and 95% ci: 1.03-4.41) higher odds of diabetes type 2, respectively, compared to those in the lowest quartile. even before and after controlling for confounders, no overall significant relationship was observed between healthy food pattern and diabetes type 2. conclusion: this study suggests that mixed and traditional food patterns are associated with an increased odd for type 2 diabetes.