Obesity status influences link between dietary calcium intake, CVD risk
23 May 2020
Powering it through: Patients battling with obesity need more than just exercise and a healthy diet.Obesity status appears to contribute to the association between dietary calcium intake and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), suggests a recent study.
The authors examined the link between dietary calcium intake and CVD and the effect of obesity on this association among Korean adults. They included a total of 9,186 participants in the analysis. Those with prevalent CVD/cancer or implausible energy intake (n=844) were not included.
A validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate nutrient intake, including dietary calcium. CVD included myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease and stroke based on the World Health Organization criteria. Multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models.
In the fully adjusted model, the risk of CVD decreased with higher intake of dietary calcium. The HRs across increasing quintiles of calcium intake were as follows: 1.0 (reference), 0.85 (95 percent CI, 0.66–1.10), 0.77 (95 percent CI, 0.58–1.02), 0.59 (95 percent CI, 0.42–0.83) and 0.72 (95 percent CI, 0.48–1.08). A significant linear trend was observed (ptrend=0.04).
Notably, the association between dietary calcium intake and CVD risk varied depending on obesity status. For instance, high dietary calcium intake led to a lower CVD risk among nonobese participants (body mass index [BMI], <25 kg/m2, ptrend=0.02), but no significant association was detected among those who were obese (BMI ≥25 kg/m2; ptrend=0.88).
“We provide evidence for developing dietary calcium intake guidelines for Koreans, allowing for the effects of obesity,” the authors said.