Dietary behaviors in relation to prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in adolescent girls

Backgrounds and aims: There is limited evidence regarding the relationship between dietary behaviors and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study aimed to explore the association between diet-related practices and prevalence of IBS.

Methods: The study was conducted among 988 adolescent girls living in Iran. Dietary behaviors were pre-defined and assessed in nine domains using a pre-tested questionnaire. To investigate the association between diet-related practices and the presence of IBS, this study used logistic regression analysis in crude and adjusted models.

Results: The prevalence of IBS was 16.9% in this population. Compared with individuals who did not consume fluid with their meal, those who always consumed fluid with meals had a greater chance of IBS (odds ratio [OR]: 2.91; P: 0.01). This study found a direct relationship between a greater intake of spicy food and IBS prevalence (OR: 5.28; P: 0.02). The individuals who ate fried foods every day also had a greater risk of IBS compared with those who did not consume fried foods (OR: 1.65; P: 0.01). The subjects who had lost ≥ 5 teeth had 2.23 times greater odds for IBS than the individual who had lost ≤ 1 tooth (OR: 2.23; P: 0.01) was a significant inverse relationship between the chewing sufficiency and the risk of IBS (OR: 4.04; P: 0.02). These associations remained significant after controlling for potential confounder.

Conclusions: Intra-meal fluid intake, chewing insufficiency, higher tooth loss, and the consumption of spicy and fried food were associated with increased risk of IBS. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.