Do Dietary Patterns Explain High Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Pakistani Urban Adults? A Cross-Sectional Study

Background The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in South Asia is higher than in any other developing countries. The diversity of diets in populations among developing countries may be one explanation for the differences in CVD. This study was carried out to explore the association between dietary patterns and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors among Pakistani low income urban adults. Methods Socio demographic, physical activity and dietary information was collected from 1546 Pakistani subjects aged ≥40 years from the Control of Hypertension and Risk Attenuation (COBRA) study. Anthropometric, clinical and biomarker measures were assessed. Cluster analysis was used to identify dietary patterns from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and multinomial regression was employed to investigate the association between dietary clusters and cardiovascular risk factors, using one of the dietary clusters as a reference category. Results The most prevalent CVD risk factors among participants were elevated low density lipoprotein- cholesterol (LDL-C) (69.8 %) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (68.2 %), followed by central obesity (57.1 %), low levels of high density lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-C) (56.3 %), overall obesity (46.0 %), high total cholesterol (32.3 %), and elevated fasting blood sugar (FBS) (34.9 %). The cluster analysis generated 3 non-overlapping diet patterns. Cluster 1(Traditional Pakistani Diet), was dominated by fruits, vegetables, milk products and chicken, included participants with high mean body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), HDL-C and low mean SBP. Cluster 2 (Moderate Diet) reflected a moderate intake of most food items and included participants with significantly higher mean SBP. Cluster 3 (Fatty Diet) was characterized by high intake of beef, whole milk, paratha and lentils and those following this cluster had a low mean HDL-C and high SBP. In analyses controlling for age, gender, tobacco use and physical activity, participants in the Traditional diet cluster were more likely to be overweight (OR 1.39, 95 % CI 1.08 to 1.78) and high central adiposity (1.33, 95 % CI 1.04 to 1.71) than participants in the Moderate diet cluster, though less likely to have elevated SBP (OR 0.67, 95 % CI 0.51 to 0.86). LDL-C levels were higher in both the traditional Pakistani diet and Fatty diet cluster compared to the Moderate diet cluster. Low HDL-C was also more prevalent among the Traditional Pakistani diet cluster. Conclusion Among Pakistani population discernable diet patterns can be derived using clusters analysis. CVD risk factors prevalence differed by cluster membership, though relations for specific CVD risk are not consistent across clusters

Dietary Patterns and their Association with Hypertension Among Pakistani Urban Adults

Hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting more than 25% of adults worldwide. In Pakistan, 33% of the adult population suffers from hypertension. Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated the critical role of dietary patterns in the causation, prevention and management of hypertension. There’s a dearth of evidence from South Asia in this regard. The present study aimed to identify the association between dietary patterns and hypertension among 4304 low income urban adults who participated in the Control of Blood Pressure and Risk Attenuation (COBRA) study in Karachi, Pakistan. Dietary information was collected by a 33- item food frequency questionnaire and 3 unique dietary patterns namely; fat and sweet, fruit and vegetable, and seafood and yogurt patterns were derived using principal component factor analyses. We used univariate and multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between dietary patterns and hypertension. Men were more likely to have hypertension, while increase in age, and body mass index were also associated with hypertension (p\u3c0.001). After adjusting for age, gender, education, marital status, body mass index, and tobacco use; the seafood and yogurt pattern was less likely (OR=0.78: 95% CI: 0.63, 0.98; p-value 0.03) to be associated with hypertension, whereas no significant associations were seen for other two dietary patterns. These findings suggest that certain dietary patterns may be associated with hypertension among Pakistani low income urban adults

Dietary Patterns and their Association with Hypertension Among Pakistani Urban Adults

Hypertension is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting more than 25% of adults worldwide. In Pakistan, 33% of the adult population suffers from hypertension. Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated the critical role of dietary patterns in the causation, prevention and management of hypertension. There’s a dearth of evidence from South Asia in this regard. The present study aimed to identify the association between dietary patterns and hypertension among 4304 low income urban adults who participated in the Control of Blood Pressure and Risk Attenuation (COBRA) study in Karachi, Pakistan. Dietary information was collected by a 33- item food frequency questionnaire and 3 unique dietary patterns namely; fat and sweet, fruit and vegetable, and seafood and yogurt patterns were derived using principal component factor analyses. We used univariate and multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between dietary patterns and hypertension. Men were more likely to have hypertension, while increase in age, and body mass index were also associated with hypertension (p\u3c0.001). After adjusting for age, gender, education, marital status, body mass index, and tobacco use; the seafood and yogurt pattern was less likely (OR=0.78: 95% CI: 0.63, 0.98; p-value 0.03) to be associated with hypertension, whereas no significant associations were seen for other two dietary patterns. These findings suggest that certain dietary patterns may be associated with hypertension among Pakistani low income urban adults