Association between Dietary Patterns and Glycemic Control in a Middle-aged Chinese Population

Abstract

Background: Despite decades of research, data on the relationship between dietary patterns and glycemic control(hemoglobin(Hb)A1c<7%) in China are sparse. The objective of this study was to ascertain the association between different dietary patterns and glycemic control in a large group of Chinese adults aged between 45 and 59 years.Methods: A total of 1739 subjects aged 45-59 years from Hangzhou were included in the analysis. Information on dietary intake was collected by well-trained interviewers using a validated food frequency questionnaire(FFQ). Factor analysis with principal component method was applied to ascertain the main dietary patterns, and the associations between dietary patterns and glycemic control were determined using multivariable logistic regression models. Poor glycemic control was defined as HbA1c≥7.0.Results:Three dietary patterns were ascertained and labeled as traditional southern Chinese, Western, and grains-vegetables patterns. After controlling of the possible confounders, participants in the highest quartile of Western pattern scores had greater odds ratio(OR) for HbA1c≥7.0(OR=1.05; 95% confidence interval(CI):1.000-1.095; P=0.048) than did those in the lowest quartile. Compared with those in the lowest quartile of grains-vegetables pattern, participants in the highest quartile had lower OR for HbA1c≥7.0(OR=0.82; 95% CI:0.720-0.949; P=0.038). Besides, no significant relationship between the traditional southern Chinese pattern and HbA1c≥7.0 was observed(P>0.05). Conclusions:This study indicated that the Western pattern was associated with a higher risk, and the grains-vegetables pattern was associated with a lower risk for HbA1c≥7.0. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings.