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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Healthy Body Weight Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #356834
Research Project: Dietary Guidelines Adherence and Healthy Body Weight Maintenance

Location: Healthy Body Weight Research

Title: Prospective analysis of vegetable amount and variety on the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among US adults, 1999-2011

Author
item Conrad, Zachary
item Thomson, Jessica
item Jahns, Lisa

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/21/2018
Publication Date: 9/27/2018
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/6471220
Citation: Conrad, Z.S., Thomson, J.L., Jahns, L.A. 2018. Prospective analysis of vegetable amount and variety on the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality among US adults, 1999-2011. Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10101377.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10101377

Interpretive Summary: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provides recommendations for achieving a healthy diet pattern, which includes consuming a variety of vegetables. However, few studies have examined the link between vegetable variety and death from heart disease. Therefore, we estimated the relationship between vegetable variety, vegetable amount, and death from heart disease. Data on food intake and disease status were acquired for 29,133 adults from a national survey conducted between1 1999-2010. Overall, greater vegetable amount, but not variety, was associated with reduced risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease.

Technical Abstract: Introduction: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 (DGA) provides specific recommendations for consuming a variety of vegetables, but no studies have assessed the relationship between DGA-recommended vegetable variety and risk of mortality. Study design: Prospective study using nationally representative survey data (n=29,133). Hazard ratios of all causes and cause-specific cardiometabolic mortality were estimated using survey-weighted Cox-proportional hazards models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, race/ethnicity, education, income-to-poverty ratio, smoking status, medication use, and intake of fatty acids and added sugar. Exposure: Amount and variety of vegetable consumption. Main outcome measures: Mortality from all causes, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease + stroke), and cardiometabolic disease (cardiovascular disease + diabetes). Results: Mean follow-up time was 6.5 years (12.8 years maximum). Total deaths from all causes were 2,861, which included 829 deaths from cardiometabolic disease (556 coronary heart disease, 170 stroke, and 103 diabetes). Compared to individuals who reported consuming the greatest amount of vegetables daily, those with the least intake had a 78% greater risk of mortality from all causes (HR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.29-2.47), 68% greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease (1.68, 1.08-2.62), and 80% greater risk of death from coronary heart disease (1.80, 1.09-2.08). No relationships were observed between vegetable variety and risk of all-cause or cause-specific mortality. Conclusions: Greater vegetable amount, but not variety, was associated with reduced risk of mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease. Additional large-scale longitudinal studies with repeated measures of dietary exposure are needed.