Diet Quality Indices and Leukocyte Telomere Length Among Healthy US Adults: Data From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 1999-2002

In our study, we used data from 4,758 healthy adults from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to examine the associations between evidence-based diet quality indices and leukocyte telomere length. Our study assessed the four most widely recognized and commonly used diet quality indices in nutritional epidemiology: the USDA-developed Healthy Eating Index-2010, the Alternate Healthy Eating Index-2010, the Mediterranean Diet Score, and the DASH diet score. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic and health variables known to influence dietary intake and cellular aging.