The association between dietary intake of white rice and central obesity in obese adults

BACKGROUND Obesity has become one of the most important and the fastest growing health and nutritional problem, not only in developed but also in developing countries. White rice consumption causes an increase in postprandial blood glucose and could be a probable reason for obesity. This study was conducted to investigate the association between intake of white rice and central obesity in an Iranian population. METHODS In the present cross-sectional study, a total of 212 subjects were selected based on convenience non-random sampling procedure. Expert interviewers collected socio-demographic and dietary intake data by a face to face method. RESULTS We failed to find any significant association between frequency of white rice consumption and body mass index or waist circumference, neither in crude model nor in adjusted models. CONCLUSION Although there was no significant association between white rice intake and obesity factors in our study, more studies are necessary with larger population and better design.