Association between Milk Consumption and Metabolic Syndrome among Korean Adults: Results from the Health Examinees Study

Abstract

It has been suggested that a greater dairy consumption, particularly of milk, may have contributed in lowering the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to examine the association between milk consumption and MetS, and its components among Korean adults aged 40–69. A total of 130,420 subjects (43,682 men and 86,738 women) from the Health Examinees Study were selected for the final analysis. Milk consumption was estimated using a validated 106-item food frequency questionnaire. MetS was defined using the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP III). Logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between milk consumption and MetS after adjusting for potential confounders. In this study, the average milk consumption was 77.9 g/day, with the overall prevalence of MetS being 26.1% (29.1% in men and 24.6% in women). We found that the prevalence of the MetS was significantly lower in subjects with higher milk consumption (p < 0.0001). Adjusted OR for MetS was significantly lower in the highest milk consumption category (≥1 serving/day among men; ≥2 serving/day among women) than those in the lowest milk consumption category (OR: 0.92 95%CI: 0.86–0.99, p trend = 0.0160 in men; OR: 0.68, 95%CI: 0.60–0.76, p trend < 0.0001 in women). Overall, higher milk consumption was inversely associated with the MetS components: elevated waist circumference, elevated triglyceride, and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (all p trend < 0.05). This study concludes that higher milk consumption is associated with the lower odds of MetS in Korean adults.

The association between milk consumption and the metabolic syndrome: a cross-sectional study of the residents of Suzhou, China and a meta-analysis

“…The characteristics of the included studies are summarised in online Supplementary Table S1. In the main meta-analysis of the present study and eleven other studies (15)(16)(17)(18)(21)(22)(23)(24)(27)(28)(29) , the pooled RR of the metabolic syndrome for the highest v. lowest categories of milk consumption was 0•80 (95 % CI 0•72, 0•88; Fig. 1), with high heterogeneity (I 2 73•5 %).…”

“…2. In the analyses of the metabolic syndrome components (18,(21)(22)(23)(24) , high milk consumption was inversely associated with elevated waist circumference ( When the analyses were restricted to the Asian studies (21)(22)(23)(24)…”

“…The majority of studies included in our meta-analysis had a cross-sectional design (15,16,21,22,24,29) , with only a few prospective cohort studies (17,18,23,27,28) . In general, a clear tendency towards an inverse association (RR ranged from 0•38 to 0•93) was evident in all studies, with the exception of a tendency towards positive association (RR 1•21) observed in a study (28) among communitydwelling elderly in Taiwan.…”

“…dairy product type, fat content and subpopulation) for this association have not been well elucidated. Evidence on the association between dairy consumption and the metabolic syndrome is predominantly derived from studies conducted in Western countries (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18) , with only a few studies from Asian countries (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) . Given that Asian populations differ from Western populations with respect to dietary pattern, cultural characteristics or amounts and types of dairy products consumed (25,26) , better understanding of the association between consumption of dairy product and the metabolic syndrome in Asian populations may provide valuable information that could be useful to refine the evidence on this topic.…”

“…Given that Asian populations differ from Western populations with respect to dietary pattern, cultural characteristics or amounts and types of dairy products consumed (25,26) , better understanding of the association between consumption of dairy product and the metabolic syndrome in Asian populations may provide valuable information that could be useful to refine the evidence on this topic. Thus far, a number of studies have investigated the association between milk consumption and the metabolic syndrome in Western (15)(16)(17)(18)27) and Asian (21)(22)(23)(24)(28)(29)(30) populations. However, these studies have yielded inconsistent results, possibly due to the heterogeneity in study design, milk consumption levels and metabolic syndrome definition.…”