Evaluation of adherence to the DASH diet and dietary inflammation index in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate adherence of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to DASH diet and the effect of diet's inflammatory potential on inflammation markers. Method: The study was conducted between October 2023 and March 2024 on 42 children aged 6-18 who had been diagnosed with ADHD by a child psychiatrist according to DSM-5 criteria and their families, as well as 42 healthy children with similar symptoms who had not been diagnosed with ADHD and their families, all of whom had visited the same outpatient clinic. Participants' general characteristics, dietary habits, physical activity levels, adherence to DASH diet, dietary inflammatory index (C-DII), and diet quality were assessed, anthropometric measurements were taken, and inflammation markers were recorded from patient files. Results: 76.2% of individuals diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 71.4% of individuals in healthy group were male (p>0.05). C-reactive protein levels were found to be higher in ADHD group (2.8±3.99 mg/L) than in control group (1.1±1.32 mg/L) (p<0.05). The average DASH diet index score was higher in control group (p>0.05), while the C-DII score was higher in the ADHD group (p<0.05). When individuals with ADHD were compared according to C-DII classes (anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory), no significant difference was found in biochemical parameters (p>0.05). In contrast, Conner's parent rating subscale hyperactivity scores were higher in the group with a more proinflammatory diet (13.9±4.49) than in anti-inflammatory group (10.1±6.38) (p<0.05). Similarly, a positive correlation was found between C-DII scores and hyperactivity and anxiety-shyness subscale scores (r=0.374 and r=0.021, respectively, p<0.05). Conclusion: A positive correlation has been observed between C-DII scores and certain ADHD symptoms in children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Therefore, the importance of anti-inflammatory nutrition in the medical nutritional treatment of the disease should be emphasized in order to alleviate ADHD symptoms in children and ensure their healthy neurological development.