A High Diet Quality Based on Dietary Recommendations Is Not Associated with Lower Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Cohort

• Main Authors: Emmanuel Mandalazi, Isabel Drake, Elisabet Wirfält, Marju Orho-Melander, Emily Sonestedt
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-06-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: diet index; dietary pattern; type 2 diabetes; cohort
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/17/6/901

A high diet quality index based on Swedish nutrition recommendations has previously been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in the Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) cohort. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether this diet quality index was associated with the risk for type 2 diabetes. Of 26,868 participants (44–74 years) in the MDC cohort study, 3838 type 2 diabetes cases were identified from registers during 17 years of follow-up. A diet quality index (from a modified diet history method) was constructed based on adherence to the recommended intakes of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, fish, fiber, fruit and vegetables, and sucrose. After adjusting for potential confounders, we observed no significant association between the diet quality index and type 2 diabetes risk. The HR for the highest vs. lowest index category was 1.06 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.20; p-trend = 0.56). Because of the protective associations shown for cardiovascular disease and mortality, the specific dietary components that were chosen to represent adherence to the recommendations may be less applicable to type 2 diabetes risk.