Iran: Dairy Consumption and Metabolic Syndrome in Children and Adolescents

Children and adolescents who consumed dairy products, particularly low-fat milk and yogurt, were at lower risk of incident metabolic syndrome (MetS), according to a recent study in Acta Diabetologica.

Parvin Mirmiran, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, and colleagues aimed to examine the association of total and individual dairy products with the risk of incident MetS and its components in children and adolescents in this cohort study.

For this purpose, the researchers prospectively assessed 531 participants aged 6–18 years without the MetS at baseline during an average 6.6-year follow-up period. Using a valid and reliable food frequency questionnaire, dairy consumption was estimated.

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Key Findings of the Study

• The incidence of MetS was 9.8% after an average 6.6-year follow-up. After adjusting for potential confounders, OR for incident MetS was 0.48 for total dairy, 0.44 for low-fat dairy, 0.46 for low-fat milk, and 0.45 for low-fat yogurt when comparing participants in the highest versus lowest tertile.
• A moderate intake of regular cheese was associated with decreased risk of MetS (OR = 0.43).
• Replacing one serving/day of total dairy with nuts was associated with a lower (OR: 0.63), whereas replacement by red and processed meat was associated with higher (OR: 1.55) MetS risk.
• No significant association was found between high-fat dairy and MetS risk.

"Our findings demonstrate that higher consumption of dairy products, particularly low-fat milk and yogurt, was associated with reduced risk of incident MetS, suggesting the capability of low-fat dairy products in the primary prevention of MetS in children and adolescents," concluded the authors.

Also Read: Plant-based diets may lower blood pressure even with limited meat and dairy

Reference

The study titled, "Associations of dairy intake with risk of incident metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study," is published in the journal Acta Diabetologica.

DOI: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00592-020-01651-0