Intake of milk, but not total dairy, yogurt, or cheese, is negatively associated with the clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies have reported an inverse association between dairy product consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults, but this relation is relatively unexplored in adolescents. We hypothesized that a higher dairy product intake is associated with lower cardiometabolic risk factor clustering in adolescents. To test this hypothesis, a cross-sectional study was conducted with 494 adolescents aged 15 to 18 years from the Azorean Archipelago, Portugal. We measured fasting glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, body fat, and cardiorespiratory fitness. We also calculated homeostatic model assessment and total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio. For each one of these variables, a z score was computed using age and sex. A cardiometabolic risk score (CMRS) was constructed by summing up the z scores of all individual risk factors. High risk was considered to exist when an individual had at least 1 SD from this score. Diet was evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire, and the intake of total dairy (included milk, yogurt, and cheese), milk, yogurt, and cheese was categorized as low (equal to or below the median of the total sample) or "appropriate" (above the median of the total sample).The association between dairy product intake and CMRS was evaluated using separate logistic regression, and the results were adjusted for confounders. Adolescents with high milk intake had lower CMRS, compared with those with low intake (10.6% vs 18.1%, P = .018). Adolescents with appropriate milk intake were less likely to have high CMRS than those with low milk intake (odds ratio, 0.531; 95% confidence interval, 0.302-0.931). No association was found between CMRS and total dairy, yogurt, and cheese intake. Only milk intake seems to be inversely related to CMRS in adolescents.

Current Food Classifications in Epidemiological Studies Do Not Enable Solid Nutritional Recommendations for Preventing Diet-Related Chronic Diseases: The Impact of Food Processing

“…The most studied comparisons include raw with processed fruits and vegetables (34,35), whole-grain with refined cereals (36)(37)(38), red with processed meats (39,40), milk with yogurt with cheese (41,42), and full-fat versus semiskimmed with low-fat/skimmed milk (or low-fat compared with high-fat dairy) (43,44). For example, raw and processed fruit and vegetable products have been shown to protect against coronary heart disease risk, whereas only raw products protected against stroke (34,35).…”

“…Red and processed meats have been consistently positively associated with an increased risk of colon adenoma (39) and colorectal cancer (40). Results regarding dairy products have depended on the products and diseases considered with mixed effects; milk and yogurt have been shown to protect against cardiovascular risk, whereas no association was observed for cheese (41,42). Moreover, no association was reported between cheese and whole-milk intake and prostate cancer risk, whereas skimmed/low-fat milk has been shown to slightly increase risk (43).…”

Association between yogurt consumption and the risk of Metabolic Syndrome over 6 years in the SUN study

“…However, investigations in this field have yielded contradictory results [5-7]. In this context, there are some studies that have reported an association between MetS and dairy products as a whole [7-9], and some that described the independent effect of various dairy products (especially milk, yogurt and cheese) [6,10]. Concerning results on yogurt consumption, the conclusions obtained are all in the same direction suggesting a significant inverse association between yogurt consumption and the development of MetS [7,11].…”

Dairy product consumption and its association with metabolic disturbance in a prospective study of urban adults

“…Among recent cross-sectional studies, sixteen found an inverse relationship between dairy consumption and adverse metabolic outcomes (positive findings), (34; 47; 48; 49; 50; 51; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 5 8; 59; 60; 61; 62) while five had mixed findings (71; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78) and the remaining studies failed to detect an association in the expected direction. (79; 80; 81) Among positive findings, a study of 827 Iranian adults (18–74y) concluded that the uppermost quartile of dairy consumption (vs. lowest) had reduced odds of central obesity, hypertension and MetS, an association primarily mediated by calcium intake, (34) as was replicated in a separate study.…”

“…(23) Recent observational and experimental studies suggest that dairy and calcium consumption may reduce obesity risk, (29; 30) excess central (31) fat distribution, type-2 diabetes (32; 33) , hypertension (34) , and the MetS (31; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 50; 51; 52; 53; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 60; 61; 62; 63; 64; 65; 66; 67; 68) , while mixed or negative finding were reported by others. (69; 70; 71; 72; 73; 74; 75; 76; 77; 78; 79; 80; 81; 82; 83) …”