Dietary patterns and disease risk profiles in men

Nutritious dietary patterns promote the health of the public by contributing to optimal nutritional status and reducing many of the risk factors associated with adult morbidity and mortality, including heart disease, hypertension, certain cancers, obesity, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Population-based nutrition recommendations emphasize dietary patterns that offer a wide variety of nutrient dense foods, limit empty calories, and encourage the consumption of protective dietary factors that lower chronic disease risk.

Many detailed evaluations of the associations between the dietary patterns of women and a variety of health outcomes has been conducted but in this report, the dietary patterns of Framingham Offspring-Spouse cohort men, are studied with regard to their dietary patterns and chronic disease risk over eight years of follow-up.

Baseline 145-item food frequency questionnaires from 1,666 Framingham Offspring-Spouse cohort men were used to identify comprehensive dietary patterns. Independent three day food records at baseline and eight years later provided estimates of subjects' nutrient intake by dietary pattern. Chronic disease risk factor status was compared at baseline and follow-up across all male dietary patterns.

Five distinct and comprehensive dietary patterns of the men were identified: transition to heart healthy (consumed more fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains), higher starch, average male (higher in unsweetened beverages, lower in leaner protein foods), lower variety and empty calories.

Men in the transition to heart healthy group had lower total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, rates of overweight and smoking than most other groups, but their mean glucose levels and diabetes rates were somewhat higher. During 16 years of follow-up, only smoking rates improved in all male dietary pattern subgroups; treatment rates for blood pressure and lipids were considerable higher and diabetes rates more than doubled.

With the five dietary patterns being identified, none of them could be considered ideal from a nutritional or heath risk perspective. However, the unique and non-overlapping nature of the male dietary patterns observed in Framingham suggests that each male subgroup might benefit from nutrition intervention strategies that address its unique dietary pattern and related chronic disease risk profile.