Abstract: Objective: To explore the association between dietary patterns and body composition among children and adolescents in Guangzhou. Design: Crosssectional survey. Methods: Primary and middle school students aged 617 years were enrolled using the stratified cluster sampling method from March to December 2019. Information on dietary intake 13 types of food was collected by questionnaires. Body composition measurements were performed. Factor analysis was used to extract dietary patterns. Multivariate linear regression models were used to analyze the association between dietary patterns and body composition. Main outcome measures: Zscores of body fat percentage (BF%), fatfree mass index (FFMI), and fat mass/fatfree mass ratio (FM/FFM). Results: total of 7,590 children and adolescents were included in the analysis, with an average age of 11.7±2.9 years, and 4064 males (53.5%). Four dietary patterns were constructed, including balanced diet, refined grains and meat, fried and pickled food, and fruit and dairy diet patterns. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, the highest quartile of factor scores in the balanced diet pattern compared to the lowest quartile showed a decrease of 0.07 standard deviations in BF% Zscore (β=-0.07, 95%CI=-0.140.00) and FM/FFM Zscore (β=-0.07, 95%CI=-0.140.00). In the fruit and dairy diet pattern, the highest quartile of factor scores compared to the lowest quartile showed an increase of 0.10 standard deviations in FFMI Zscore (β=0.10, 95%CI=0.030.17). No statistically significant association was found between other dietary patterns and body composition (P>0.05). Conclusion: The balanced diet pattern is associated with a reduction in body fat, and the fruit and dairy diet pattern is associated with an increase in fatfree tissue or muscle.

Key words: Dietary patterns, Body composition, Children and adolescents