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Associations between body mass index and food groups in the Multiethnic Cohort Study
Author(s) -
Howarth Nancy C.,
Murphy Suzanne P.,
Wilkens Lynne R.,
Kolonel Laurence N.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a6-b
Subject(s) - overweight , body mass index , food group , medicine , environmental health , red meat , legume , cohort , population , obesity , cohort study , ethnic group , demography , gerontology , biology , agronomy , pathology , anthropology , sociology
To determine the associations of consumption of specific food groups with overweight risk in a multiethnic population we used quantitative food frequency questionnaire data from 191,029 participants in the Hawaii‐Los Angeles Multiethnic Cohort, who were African‐American, Native Hawaiian, Japanese‐American, Latino or Caucasian, to examine the association of intakes of 15 food groups with overweight status (BMI > 25 kg/m 2 ). After controlling for total energy intake, age, ethnic group, current smoking, physical activity, chronic disease and education, positive associations with risk for overweight were seen for intakes of meat, poultry, fish, refined grains, vegetables in mixtures and potatoes, and inverse associations for fruits, discrete vegetables, whole grains and legumes. After adjustment for all food groups, red and processed meats were the strongest direct predictors of overweight risk in both sexes, while legumes in men and nuts and legumes in women were the strongest protective factors. A low meat (<9 g/MJ), high legume (2.9 g/MJ) diet was associated with a 2.4 kg/m 2 lower BMI than a high meat (> 14 g/MJ), low legume (<2.9 g/MJ) diet in all but Latinos. Our results suggest that diets lower in meat and higher in plant foods such as legumes are associated with a lower risk of overweight in a multiethnic population. This work was supported by NIH/NCI grants R37CA054281 and R25 CA90956.