Adherence to a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-type diet over the life course and associated vascular function: a study based on the MRC 1946 British birth cohort

• Published in: British journal of nutrition Vol. 119; no. 5; pp. 581 - 589
• Main Authors: Maddock, Jane, Ziauddeen, Nida, Ambrosini, Gina L., Wong, Andrew, Hardy, Rebecca, Ray, Sumantra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 14-03-2018
• Subjects: Atherosclerosis; Blood Pressure; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - blood; Cardiovascular Diseases - pathology; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; Carotid artery; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; Diaries; Diet; Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension; Dietary intake; Dietary Surveys and Nutritional Epidemiology; Epidemiology; Feeding Behavior; Female; Food; Health risk assessment; Heart; High density lipoprotein; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - blood; Hypertension - pathology; Hypertension - physiopathology; Lipids; Lipids - blood; Male; Medical research; Middle Aged; Multiple regression models; Nutrition research; Physical activity; Public health; Pulse Wave Analysis; Regression analysis; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Smoking; Triglycerides - blood; United Kingdom; Wave velocity; Whites; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Scotland; Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet; British birth cohort; Life course epidemiology; Vascular function; SEP socioeconomic position; BP blood pressure; NSHD National Survey of Health and Development; DBP diastolic blood pressure; Q quintiles; MRC Medical Research Council; SBP systolic blood pressure; cIMT carotid intima–media thickness; DASH Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; PVW pulse wave velocity; RCT randomised controlled trials; CV cardiovascular
• ISSN: 0007-1145; 1475-2662
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114517003877

Little is known about long-term associations between the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and conventional cardiovascular (CV)-risk factors as well as novel measures of vascular function. This study aimed to examine whether long-term adherence to a DASH-type diet in a British birth cohort is associated with conventional CV-risk factors and two vascular function markers, carotid intima–media thickness (cIMT) and pulse wave velocity (PWV). Data came from 1409 participants of the Medical Research Council (MRC) National Survey of Health and Development. Dietary intake was assessed at 36, 43, 53 and 60–64 years using 5-d estimated food diaries. The DASH-type diet score was calculated using the Fung index. Conventional CV-risk factors (blood pressure (BP) and lipids), cIMT in the right and/or left common carotid artery and PWV was measured when participants were 60–64 years. Associations between the DASH-type diet score and outcomes were assessed using multiple regression models adjusted for socioeconomic position, BMI, smoking and physical activity. Participants in higher sex-specific quintiles (Q) of the long-term DASH-type diet had lower BP (P≤0·08), higher HDL-cholesterol (P<0·001) and lower TAG (P<0·001) compared with people in Q1. Participants in Q5 of the long-term DASH-type diet had lower PWV (−0·28 sd; 95 % CI −0·50, −0·07, P
trend=0·01) and cIMT (−0·24 sd; 95 % CI −0·44, −0·04, P
trend=0·02) compared with participants in the Q1. This association was independent of the conventional CV-risk factors. Greater adherence to a DASH diet over the life course is associated with conventional CV-risk factors and independently associated with cIMT and PWV.