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Prospective associations between dietary patterns and high sensitivity C-reactive protein in European children: the
Esther María González-Gil1,2,3,4, Gianluca Tognon5, Lauren Lissner5
1GENUD (Growth, Exercise, NUtrition and Development) Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad de Zaragoza, C/ Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain. esthergg@unizar.es.
Insights
A poor diet high in sugar and processed foods is linked to inflammation in European children. Improving children's diets may help prevent chronic inflammatory diseases later in life.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Inflammation Biomarkers
- Dietary Pattern Analysis
Background:
- Chronic inflammation is a growing concern in pediatric populations.
- Dietary habits established in childhood can have long-term health consequences.
- High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a key marker of inflammation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between dietary patterns and hs-CRP levels in European children.
- To examine these relationships over a two-year period.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from 4020 children (aged 2-9 years) from the IDEFICS study.
- Identification of dietary patterns using k-means clustering on food frequency questionnaire data.
- Logistic regression to assess the relationship between dietary patterns and hs-CRP levels.
Main Results:
- Three consistent dietary patterns emerged: 'animal protein and refined carbohydrate', 'sweet and processed', and 'healthy'.
- Children with 'animal protein/refined carbohydrate' and 'sweet and processed' patterns showed higher odds of elevated hs-CRP.
- The 'sweet and processed' pattern remained significantly associated with higher hs-CRP after adjusting for covariates.
Conclusions:
- A diet high in sugar/processed foods and low in fruits/vegetables is independently associated with inflammation in children.
- Dietary interventions focusing on improving diet quality in childhood are crucial.
- These efforts may help prevent future chronic inflammatory diseases.
Purpose:
This prospective study explores high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in relation to dietary patterns at two time points in European children.
Methods:
Out of the baseline sample of the IDEFICS study (n = 16,228), 4020 children, aged 2-9 years at baseline, with available hs-CRP levels and valid data from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) at baseline (T0) and 2 years later (T1) were included. K-means clustering algorithm based on the similarities between relative food consumption frequencies of the FFQ was applied. hs-CRP was dichotomized according to sex-specific cutoff points. Multilevel logistic regression was performed to assess the relationship between dietary patterns and hs-CRP adjusting for covariates.
Results:
Three consistent dietary patterns were found at T0 and T1: 'animal protein and refined carbohydrate', 'sweet and processed' and 'healthy'. Children allocated to the 'protein' and 'sweet and processed' clusters at both time points had significantly higher odds of being in the highest category of hs-CRP (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.03-2.09 for 'animal protein and refined carbohydrate' and OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.08-1.92 for 'sweet and processed') compared to the 'healthy' cluster. The odds remained significantly higher for the 'sweet and processed' pattern (OR 1.39; 95% CI 1.05-1.84) when covariates were included.
Conclusions:
A dietary pattern characterized by frequent consumption of sugar and processed products and infrequent consumption of vegetables and fruits over time was independently related with inflammation in European children. Efforts to improve the quality of the diet in childhood may prevent future diseases related with chronic inflammation.
