Association Between the Korean Healthy Eating Index and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein: A Nationally Representative Study in South Korea, 2022–2024

Background

Maintaining favorable dietary quality may play an important role in disease prevention, and the mitigation of inflammation is considered a key mechanism. Although the association between dietary quality and inflammation has been reported, evidence from South Korea remains limited. Therefore, this study examined the association between the Korean Healthy Eating Index (KHEI) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels.