Lifestyle factors related to prevalent chronic disease multimorbidity: A population-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Multimorbidity is associated with poor quality of life, polypharmacy, health care costs and mortality, with those affected potentially benefitting from a healthy lifestyle. We assessed a comprehensive set of lifestyle factors in relation to multimorbidity with major chronic diseases. Methods This cross-sectional study utilised baseline data for adults from the prospective Lifelines Cohort in the north of the Netherlands (N = 79,345). We defined multimorbidity as the co-existence of two or more chronic diseases (i.e. cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, type 2 diabetes) and evaluated factors in six lifestyle domains (nutrition, physical (in)activity, substance abuse, sleep, stress, relationships) among groups by the number of chronic diseases (≥2, 1, 0). Multinomial logistic regression models were created, adjusted for appropriate confounders, and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were reported. Results 3,712 participants had multimorbidity (4.7%, age 53.5 ± 12.5 years), and this group tended to have less healthy lifestyles. Compared to those without chronic diseases, those with multimorbidity reported physical inactivity more often (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.06–1.25; not significant for one condition), chronic stress (OR, 2.14; 95%CI, 1.92–2.38) and inadequate sleep (OR, 1.70; 95%CI, 1.41–2.06); as expected, they more often watched television (OR, 1.70; 95%CI, 1.42–2.04) and currently smoked (OR, 1.91; 95%CI, 1.73–2.11), but they also had lower alcohol intakes (OR, 0.66; 95%CI, 0.59–0.74). Conclusions Chronic stress and poor sleep, in addition to physical inactivity and smoking, are lifestyle factors of great concern in patients with multimorbidity.

Ultraprocessed Food Consumption and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children

“…1 Modifiable risk factors (eg, diet and physical activity) may contribute to the development of recognized cardiometabolic risk factors. [2][3][4] Emerging studies have shed light on the potential role of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) in determining the risk of chronic diseases, [5][6][7] independent of their nutritional profiles. 8 Commonly, UPFs represent a category of food products that undergo extensive industrial processing, often containing multiple ingredients, additives, and preservatives to make them not only convenient (ready to eat) but also palatable and appealing.…”

“…The presence of abnormal cardiometabolic risk factors often begins in childhood, highlighting the importance of identifying and controlling them early to delay or prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the future . Modifiable risk factors (eg, diet and physical activity) may contribute to the development of recognized cardiometabolic risk factors . Emerging studies have shed light on the potential role of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) in determining the risk of chronic diseases, independent of their nutritional profiles …”

“… 1 Modifiable risk factors (eg, diet and physical activity) may contribute to the development of recognized cardiometabolic risk factors. 2 , 3 , 4 Emerging studies have shed light on the potential role of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) in determining the risk of chronic diseases, 5 , 6 , 7 independent of their nutritional profiles. 8 …”