Evidence suggeststhatdietplaysanimportantroleinthedevelopmentofmentaldisorders,especially anxiety.Dietarydiversityscoreisanindicatorforassessingdietquality.However,itsassociationwith anxiety hasnotbeeninvestigated.Theaimofthisstudywastoexaminetheassociationofdietarydi- versity scorewithanxiety.Across-sectionalstudywasconductedamong360womenattendinghealth centers inthesouthofTehranin2014.Generalinformationamongotherswerecollected.Weight,height and waistcircumferenceweremeasuredandbodymassindex(BMI)wascalculated.Dietaryintakeand anxiety scorewereassessedusinga24-hdietaryrecallandDepression,Anxiety,StressScales(DASS) questionnaires,respectively.DietarydiversityscorewascomputedaccordingtotheguidelinesofFAO. About 35%oftheparticipantswerefoundtoexhibitanxiety.Thedietarydiversityscorein12.5%ofthe subjects werebetween1and3(lowdietarydiversityscore)but87.5%scoredbetween4and7(high dietary diversityscore).Theadjustedmeanofanxietyscoreinsubjectswithhighdietarydiversityscore wassignificantly lowerthanthosewithlowdietarydiversityscore.Dietarydiversityscorewasfoundto be inverselyassociatedwithanxiety.However,thecausalitybetweenanxietyanddietarydiversitycould not bedetermined.
