Dietary Pattern Trajectories from Youth to Adulthood and Adult Risk of Impaired Fasting Glucose: A 31-year Cohort Study

Abstract

Context: The influence of dietary pattern trajectories from youth to adulthood on adult glucose metabolism is unknown. Objective: To identify dietary pattern trajectories from youth to adulthood and examine their associations with adult impaired fasting glucose (IFG). Methods: Thirty-one-year population-based cohort study among 1007 youths aged 3-18 years at baseline in Finland. Diet intake was assessed in 1980, 1986, 2001, 2007, and 2011. Group-based trajectory modelling was used to identify dietary pattern (identified by factor analysis) trajectories. Adult IFG was measured by the latest available data from 2001, 2007, and 2011. Results: Among 1007 participants, 202 (20.1%) developed IFG and 27 (2.7%) developed type 2 diabetes in adulthood (mean follow-up of 30.7 years; mean [SD] age 40.5 [5.0] years). Three dietary patterns were identified at baseline and were retained in 1986 and 2001: "Traditional Finnish,""High carbohydrate,"and "Vegetables and dairy products."Three different patterns were identified in 2007, which remained similar in 2011: "Traditional Finnish and high carbohydrate,""Red meat,"and "Healthy."Trajectories of increased or stably medium "red meat"pattern scores from youth to adulthood were detrimentally associated with IFG (relative risk 1.46, 95% CI 1.12-1.90 for Medium (M)-stable/M-large increase vs low-stable trajectory) after adjusting for confounders. This association was slightly reduced after further adjusting for long-term dietary fiber intake. Conclusion: Trajectories of an increased or stably moderate adherence to a "red meat"dietary pattern from youth to adulthood are associated with higher risk of adult IFG. This association is partly explained by low dietary fiber intake.