Background & objectives: Considering high prevalence of obesity in current century and the association of dietary patterns with obesity; identification of dietary patterns and modifying the dietary habits are necessary. Present study was conducted to identify dietary patterns in different geographic areas of Iran and assess the association of these dietary patterns with energy and nutrient intakes and body mass index (BMI) in adults living in these geographic areas.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 156 subjects aged 20-69 years from 5 geographic areas of Iran. A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) consisting of 160 food items, that it’s validity and reproducibility have been determined by Department of Nutrition in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, was used for dietary assessment. Weight and height of participents were measured and BMI was calculated. Factor analysis was used to identify major dietary patterns.

Results: Five major dietary patterns of “western”, “traditional”, “healthy”, “mixed”, and “high-protein” were identified by factor analysis. Participants with BMI=25-30 kg/m² obtained the highest score of “western” dietary pattern and participants with BMI= 18.50-25 kg/m² obtained the highest score of  “healthy”, “traditional”, “mixed”, and “high-protein” dietary patterns. “Western”, “traditional”, “healthy”, “mixed”, and “high-protein” dietary patterns had the strongest correlations with fat (r=0.733; p<0.05), protein (r=0.719; p<0.05), potassium (r=0.808; p<0.05), carbohydrate (r=0.698; p<0.05), and protein (r=0.758; p<0.05) intakes, respectively.

Conclusion: Five dietary patterns were identified in this study. Significant associations exist between all identified dietary patterns and energy and nutrient intakes. Only high-protein dietary pattern had significant association with BMI.