{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T04:46:25Z","timestamp":1785818785368,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785801600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study investigated the associations of the unhealthy Plant-based Diet Index (uPDI) with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and body mass index (BMI) using data from the 2022\u20132023 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The study included adults aged 19\u201364\u202fyears, excluding individuals with implausible energy intake (&amp;lt;500 or &amp;gt;5,000\u202fkcal\/day), underweight status, or missing data, resulting in a final sample of 5,610 participants. The uPDI was calculated by summing energy-adjusted, quintile-based scores across 19 predefined food groups. Elevated hsCRP was defined as \u22653\u202fmg\/L, and obesity as BMI\u202f\u2265\u202f25\u202fkg\/m\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      . Survey-weighted regression analyses were performed after adjustment for demographic and lifestyle covariates.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Among women, higher uPDI scores were positively associated with both hsCRP (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001) and BMI (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001) in multivariable-adjusted linear regression models. Logistic regression analyses revealed that higher uPDI scores correlated with elevated hsCRP (odds ratio [OR]: 2.043; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.298\u20133.217; P-trend\u202f=\u202f0.006) and obesity (OR: 1.876; 95% CI, 1.440\u20132.444; P-trend &amp;lt; 0.001). In contrast, no significant associations were identified in men across any model.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Greater adherence to an unhealthy plant-based dietary pattern was associated with increased inflammation and adiposity among Korean women. While sensitivity analyses consistently supported these findings, the cross-sectional design means these results indicate associations, not causal relationships.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1836622","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T04:27:13Z","timestamp":1785817633000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Associations of the unhealthy plant-based diet index with hsCRP and BMI in Korean adults"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ara","family":"Yoo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Wonkwang University","place":["Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Injoong","family":"Shin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Wonkwang University","place":["Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hyoyeon","family":"Son","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Wonkwang University","place":["Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Won","family":"Jang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Dongseo University","place":["Busan, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hyesook","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition, Wonkwang University","place":["Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea"]},{"name":"Institute for Better Living, Wonkwang University","place":["Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"673","DOI":"10.1007\/s40273-014-0243-x","article-title":"The epidemiology of obesity: a big picture","volume":"33","author":"Hruby","year":"2015","journal-title":"PharmacoEconomics"},{"key":"ref2","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref3","volume-title":"2022 National Health Statistics: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. 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