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Baseline Dietary Quality, Body Composition, and Bone Health Characteristics of Women in the I2CAN Cohort
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Baseline Dietary Quality, Body Composition, and Bone Health Characteristics of Women in the I2CAN Cohort

Emad Aldeen Alsayed, Rebekka Dieterich-Hartwell, Girija Kaimal and Deeptha Sukumar
Current developments in nutrition, v 10, 107972
Jul 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2026.107972
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2026.107972View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Objectives: The Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI) provides a standardized measure of diet quality and can be used to understand dietary patterns of individuals. Specifically, assessing dietary patterns of postmenopausal women (PW) can be important for improving healthy longevity in this population. To characterize the dietary quality of PW enrolled in the Integrative Intervention with Creative Arts Therapies and Nutrition (I2CAN) study and to compare their total diet quality and other 13 components of HEI-2015 with national HEI reference values. Additionally we aim to understand the association of HEI with bone and body composition. Methods: Baseline cross-sectional data from 18 PW in the I2CAN cohort were analyzed. Three nonconsecutive 24-hour dietary recalls (two weekdays and one weekend day) were collected using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment tool (ASA24). A DXA scan was used to analyze bone density and body composition. To calculate HEI using HEI-2015 and its 13 components, the Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) was used. One-sample t-tests were used to compare the cohort’s mean HEI total score and other 13 components of the HEI-2015 with a reference value of 58, representing the approximate national average for US adults. Results: Participants were 62.1 ± 6.9 years old; 72.2% were White and 27.8% were Black. The mean total body BMD was 1.21 ± 0.10 g/cm2, the mean tissue percent fat was 46.0 ± 6.5%, and the mean total lean mass was 101.7 ± 14.6 lbs. The mean HEI total score was 59.75 ± 11.68, which did not differ significantly from the reference value of 59 (t(17) = 0.274, p = 0.787). Among HEI components, mean scores were 3.90 ± 1.16 for total vegetables, 2.37 ± 1.97 for total fruit, 2.83 ± 3.02 for whole grains, 5.82 ± 3.16 for total dairy, 4.43 ± 1.21 for total protein foods, and 4.03 ± 1.43 for seafood and plant proteins. The seafood and plant protein score was significantly lower than the maximum possible score of 5 (p = 0.011). Conclusions: PW in the I2CAN cohort had overall diet quality comparable to the US average, with relatively low scores in both whole grains and seafood/plant protein intake. These baseline findings provide important context for future analyses of diet, body composition, and bone outcomes in this cohort. Funding Sources: Cell 2 Society Internal Pilot Program & Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program (CURE) Funding.

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