SAN FRANCISCO — The amount of plant food adolescents eat is a better predictor of cardiovascular risk than is their intake of cholesterol or saturated fat, according to a poster presentation by Dr. Karen A. Ortiz at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.
Using data from 2,128 adolescents aged 12–19 years, taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Dr. Ortiz, who was then at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and her colleagues determined that the amount of plant food the adolescents recalled eating within the previous 24 hours was significantly inversely correlated with the presence of the metabolic syndrome. For each quintile increase in that index, there was a statistically significant decrease of 20% in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome.
The amount of cholesterol and saturated fat in the dietary recall showed no significant correlation with the metabolic syndrome or its component risk factors.
On the basis of dietary recall, Dr. Ortiz, now a pediatrician in private practice in Santa Fe, N.M., calculated a plant-based food index (grams of fiber per 1,000 kcal), a saturated fat index (grams of saturated fat per 1,000 kcal), and a cholesterol index (grams of cholesterol per 1,000 kcal).
The presence of metabolic syndrome was defined as abnormalities in any three of five domains: triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, waist circumference, fasting glucose levels, and blood pressure. Metabolic syndrome was present in 7% of the teens.
None of the dietary indices was associated with levels of homocysteine, C-reactive protein, or hemoglobin A1c. All analyses in the logistic regression were adjusted for gender, age, ethnicity, family income, and other nutrient indices.
The meeting was sponsored by the American Pediatric Society, Society for Pediatric Research, Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics.