Fish, omega-3 long-chain fatty acids, and all-cause mortality in a low-income US population: Results from the Southern Community Cohort Study

• Published in: Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases Vol. 25; no. 7; pp. 651 - 658
• Main Authors: Villegas, R, Takata, Y, Murff, H, Blot, W.J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-07-2015
• Subjects: Age Factors; Animals; Black or African American; Black People; Cardiovascular; Cohort Studies; Cooking; Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology; Diet; Diet Surveys; Ethnicity; Fatty Acids, Omega-3; Female; Fish; Fishes; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Omega-3 long-chain fatty acids; Poverty - statistics & numerical data; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Southern Community Cohort Study; United States - epidemiology; White People; United States; metabolic equivalent; RR; Omega-3 long-chain fatty acids; Southern Community Cohort Study; FFQ; NDI; docosahexaenoic acid; Fish; n-3 LCFA; BMI; National Death Index; body mass index; CI; SCCS; food frequency questionnaire; relative risk; International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision; eicosapentaenoic acid; ICD-9; EPA; confidence interval; NHANES; DHA; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; MET; omega-3 long-chain fatty acid
• ISSN: 0939-4753; 1590-3729; 1590-3729
• DOI: 10.1016/j.numecd.2015.04.006

Abstract Background We examined associations between fish and n-3 LCFA and mortality in a prospective study with a large proportion of blacks with low socio-economic status. Methods and results We observed 6914 deaths among 77,604 participants with dietary data (follow-up time 5.5 years). Of these, 77,100 participants had available time-to-event data. We investigated associations between mortality with fish and n-3 LCFA intake, adjusting for age, race, sex, kcal/day, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, income, education, chronic disease, insurance coverage, and meat intake. Intakes of fried fish, baked/grilled fish and total fish, but not tuna, were associated with lower mortality among all participants. Analysis of trends in overall mortality by quintiles of intake showed that intakes of fried fish, baked/grilled fish and total fish, but not tuna, were associated with lower risk of total mortality among all participants. When participants with chronic disease were excluded, the observed association remained only between intakes of baked/grilled fish, while fried fish was associated with lower risk of mortality in participants with prevalent chronic disease. The association between n-3 LCFA intake and lower risk of mortality was significant among those with diabetes at baseline. There was an inverse association of mortality with fried fish intake in men, but not women. Total fish and baked/grilled fish intakes were associated with lower mortality among blacks while fried fish intake was associated with lower mortality among whites. Effect modifications were not statistically significant. Conclusion Our findings suggest a modest benefit of fish consumption on mortality.