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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food Surveys Research Group » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #358444
Title: Dietary flavonoid intakes are associated with race but not income in an urban population

Author
item KUCZMARSKI, MARIE - University Of Delaware
item Sebastian, Rhonda
item Goldman, Joseph
item Murayi, Theophile
item Steinfeldt, Lois
item EOSSO, JESSICA - University Of Delaware
item Moshfegh, Alanna
item ZONDERMAN, ALAN - National Institute On Aging (NIA, NIH)
item EVANS, MICHELE - National Institute On Aging (NIA, NIH)

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/9/2018
Publication Date: 11/13/2018
Citation: Kuczmarski, M.F., Sebastian, R.S., Goldman, J.D., Murayi, T., Steinfeldt, L.C., Eosso, J.R., Moshfegh, A.J., Zonderman, A.B., Evans, M.K. 2018. Dietary flavonoid intakes are associated with race but not income in an urban population. Nutrients. 10(11):1749. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111749.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111749

Interpretive Summary: Flavonoids are compounds found in plants that promote health. Although flavonoid intakes have been reported for the U.S. population as a whole, intakes of populations at high risk for diet-related disease are not known. The goal of this study was to measure flavonoid intakes in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study, a large sample of African American (AA) and White (W) low to middle- income adults residing in Baltimore City, Maryland. We used 24-hour dietary recall data to calculate intakes of total flavonoids and six flavonoid classes, and compared intakes by race and income. Further, we compared intakes to those from adults in the nationally representative What We Eat in America (WWEIA), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2010. In HANDLS, AA had lower intakes than W of total flavonoids and all flavonoid classes studied except flavanones. This finding was true regardless of sex, age, and income. Total flavonoid intake did not differ between HANDLS and WWEIA, NHANES, but intakes of the anthocyanidin and flavone classes were lower in HANDLS. Other differences were found only for AA or only for W. These findings are the first to report flavonoid intakes for this high-risk population. This information will be beneficial to epidemiologists who study diet-disease relationships and seek to explain racial disparities in health.

Technical Abstract: Flavonoids are polyphenolic phytochemicals with health-promoting properties, yet knowledge about their intake in at-risk populations is limited. This study sought to estimate intakes of total flavonoids and 6 flavonoid classes in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study, determine if differences in intakes exist by race (African American (AA) and White (W)) and income (< or > 125% Federal poverty guidelines), and compare intakes to those of a nationally representative population with similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Data transformation normalized the flavonoid intake distributions prior to conducting statistical tests. With the exception of the flavanone class, flavonoid intakes of AAs were significantly lower than those of W (p<0.01), regardless of other potential mediating factors including sex, age, and income. Total flavonoid intakes in HANDLS did not differ from intakes in the nationally representative study, but anthocyanidin and flavone intakes were lower, and race specific differences were found for several flavonoid classes. These findings imply that benefits attributable to flavonoid consumption may not be experienced equally by AA and W, nor in vulnerable populations such as that represented by HANDLS relative to the U.S. population, and may play a role in observed health disparities.