Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases · Sep 23, 2026

Associations between dietary scores and metabolic health in later reproductive years: results from the ROLO longitudinal study

By Akinsooto OE, Callanan S, Douglass A et al.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women globally. Healthy dietary patterns are associated with favourable metabolic health profiles in women; however, most studies focus on the reproductive years or post menopause. This research aimed to explore associations between dietary scores and cardiometabolic health in women in later reproductive years. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a cross-sectional analysis of 372 women from the ROLO (Randomised cOntrol trial of a LOw glycaemic index diet in pregnancy to prevent macrosomia) longitudinal study with mean age of 42.7 (range 31.6-52.4 years), 10 years postpartum. Food frequency questionnaires were used to calculate Energy-Adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII) and Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) scores. Anthropometry, body composition and non-fasting blood samples were obtained. Metabolic outcomes were examined across E-DII and HEI-2015 score tertiles. Linear regression models examined associations between dietary scores and metabolic outcomes to adjust for confounders. The median (IQR) HEI-2015 score was 62.8 (60.0,66.7) and the median (IQR) E-DII score was -0.77 (-1.5,0.12). In crude and adjusted models, highest E-DII scores (more pro-inflammatory diet) were associated with lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (nmol/L) (Tertile 3: B = -10.2, 95% CI -19.5, -0.94; p = 0.031), compared to the lowest E-DII scores (more anti-inflammatory diet). No significant associations between HEI-2015 score and metabolic outcomes were found. CONCLUSIONS: The inflammatory potential of the diet may be associated with cardiometabolic health in women in later reproductive years, highlighting an avenue for further investigation to reduce cardiovascular risk in midlife.

doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2026.105007PubMed 42901846Populations