COMPARISON OF ANTHROPOMETRIC PARAMETERS AND DIETARY INTAKE IN YOUNG AND MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS

Objective: This study aims to compare the daily average energy and nutrient intakes, quantities consumed from food groups, and anthropometric measurements of young and middle-aged adults living in Türkiye. Another objective was to examine factors influencing the increase in waist circumference. Method: This study was carried out on 1052 adults, including young adults aged 20-34 years and middle-aged adults aged 35-64 years. A questionnaire addressing general information about adults and a one-day dietary intake was used in data collection. Anthropometric measurements, including body weight, height, waist circumference, and hip circumference, were performed in the morning hours after an overnight fast by trained researchers using standardized techniques. These measurements were used to calculate the Body Mass Index, Body Adiposity Index, Waist-to-Hip Ratio, and Waist-to-Height Ratio. All data were collected between October 2023 and April 2024 during in-person interviews. Results: The mean age of young adults was 28.27±2.85 years, while the mean age of middle-aged adults was 44.56±6.75 years. The results achieved in this study revealed that 3.2% of young adults and 17.4% of middle-aged adults were obese (p