Dietary behaviour and health in Northern Ireland: an exploration of biochemical and haematological associations.

Abstract

Study objective-The aim was to determine the relationships between dietary behaviour and biochemical and haematological measures.Design-This was a cross sectional population study.Setting-The study took place in the general community within Northern Ireland.Subjects-522 randomly selected adults aged 18-64 years took part (65% of the eligible sample).Measurements and main results-Four dietary behaviours were identified using principal components analysis from 7 d weighed dietary records described in terms of mean intake of 41 food groups. Haematological and biochemical analyses were carried out on non-fasting blood samples. Social, personal, and lifestyle information was ascertained through interviewer administered questionnaires. Partial correlations controlled for age and smoking behaviour were calculated. There were significant negative associations between iron status measures and the "traditional" behaviour, while the "meat and two veg" behaviour showed positive associations. There were positive associations between the "cosmopolitan" and "convenience" behaviours and folate status in women. White cell count and platelet levels in women were negatively associated with the "traditional" and "cosmopolitan" behaviours. Total cholesterol levels showed significant negative associations with the "cosmopolitan" behaviour in women and HDL cholesterol levels were positively associated with the "cosmopolitan", "convenience" and "meat and two veg" behaviours.Conclusions-Through a multivariate approach to dietary assessment it is possible to identify food combinations that cluster and interact to influence biochemical and haematological indices of health status.

A cross-sectional study of dietary patterns with glucose intolerance and other features of the metabolic syndrome

“…The present study, which was undertaken in individuals without known diabetes, is not subject to this bias. A similar analysis by Barker et al (1992) identified a cosmopolitan dietary pattern with high loadings for fruits and vegetables that was negatively correlated with total cholesterol, and also observed that dietary patterns containing alcohol were positively associated with HDL-cholesterol.…”

Empirically Derived Eating Patterns Using Factor or Cluster Analysis: A Review

“…A Cosmopolitan pattern was inversely associated with total cholesterol in women but not in men. 78 In that study, several patterns were directly related to HDL cholesterol in both men and women, although the associations were stronger for women. In another study, a Fiber bread cluster was inversely related to central obesity among men but not women.…”

“…72 Significant relations were also observed for associations between eating patterns and symptoms of the metabolic syndrome. A Cosmopolitan pattern was associated with lower blood pressure, 41 higher HDL cholesterol (HDL), 41,78 and lower total cholesterol (T-C), 78 while a Refined foods pattern was positively associated with T-C. 41 A Vegetable pattern was negatively correlated with waist-to-hip ratio and triacylglycerols and directly correlated with HDL. 63 A pattern high in reduced-fat dairy, cereals, fruits, and fruit juice was inversely related to triacyglycerols.…”

Dietary patterns and mortality in Danish men and women: a prospective observational study

“…The two components were also easy to interpret and the dietary patterns which emerged were much like those found in previous studies using factor analysis. Indeed, comparable studies from Northern Ireland (Barker et al 1992), Great Britain (Prevost et al 1997;Williams et al 2000), Switzerland (Gex-Fabry et al 1988), Japan (Kumagai et al 1999), and USA (Slattery et al 1998;Hu et al 1999) also identified major dietary patterns, for a prudent diet, mainly expressing high intakes of fruits and vegetables, whereas another pattern typically reflected high intakes of meat and fat.…”

“…The Western dietary pattern was positively correlated with intakes of energy, energy from fat and saturated fat and negatively correlated with b-carotene. Studies from Great Britain (Barker et al 1992;Williams et al 2000) and the USA (Hu et al 1999) comparing dietary patterns, defined by factor analysis on food intake data, have also shown correlations between factor scores, nutrient intakes and biomarkers, such as total and HDL cholesterol in the expected directions. The use of dietary patterns may account for the high intercorrelation of foods within the diet, and we used techniques of stratification and adjustment in the analyses to adjust for possible confounding.…”