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Relationship between cows' milk consumption and incidence of IDDM in childhood
K Dahl-Jørgensen1, G Joner, K F Hanssen
1Aker Diabetes Research Center, Aker University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Objective:
To compare age-standardized incidence rates of diabetes in children 0-14 yr of age and cows' milk consumption in various countries.
Research Design And Methods:
Ecological correlation study. Only incidence rates from diabetes registries carefully validated by the Diabetes Epidemiology Research International Study Group were used-Finland, Sweden, Norway, Great Britain, Denmark, United States, New Zealand, Netherlands, Canada, France, Israel, and Japan. Data on fluid cows' milk consumption in corresponding countries were obtained from the International Dairy Federation.
Results:
Correlation between milk consumption and incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) was 0.96. The data fit a linear regression model, and analysis showed that 94% of the geographic variation in incidence might be explained by differences in milk consumption.
Conclusions:
The results support the hypothesis that cows' milk may contain a triggering factor for the development of IDDM.