The mountainous Cretan dietary patterns and their relationship with cardiovascular risk factors: the Hellenic Isolated Cohorts MANOLIS study
Farmaki A-E., Rayner NW., Matchan A., Spiliopoulou P., Gilly A., Kariakli V., Kiagiadaki C., Tsafantakis E., Zeggini E., Dedoussis G.
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec id="S1368980016003207_abs1" sec-type="general"><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>We carried out <jats:italic>de novo</jats:italic> recruitment of a population-based cohort (MANOLIS study) and describe the specific population, which displays interesting characteristics in terms of diet and health in old age, through deep phenotyping.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S1368980016003207_abs2" sec-type="general"><jats:title>Design</jats:title><jats:p>Cross-sectional study where anthropometric, biochemical and clinical measurements were taken in addition to interview-based completion of an extensive questionnaire on health and lifestyle parameters. Dietary patterns were derived through principal component analysis based on a validated FFQ.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S1368980016003207_abs3" sec-type="general"><jats:title>Setting</jats:title><jats:p>Geographically isolated Mylopotamos villages on Mount Idi, Crete, Greece.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S1368980016003207_abs4" sec-type="subjects"><jats:title>Subjects</jats:title><jats:p>Adults (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> 1553).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S1368980016003207_abs5" sec-type="results"><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Mean age of the participants was 61·6 years and 55·8 % were women. Of the population, 82·7 % were overweight or obese with a significantly different prevalence between overweight men and women (43·4 <jats:italic>v</jats:italic>. 34·7 %, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>=0·002). The majority (70·6 %) of participants were married, while a larger proportion of women were widowed than men (27·8 <jats:italic>v</jats:italic>. 3·5 %, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0·001). Smoking was more prevalent in men (38·7 <jats:italic>v</jats:italic>. 8·2 %, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0·001), as 88·8% of women had never smoked. Four dietary patterns emerged as characteristic of the population; these were termed ‘local’, ‘high fat and sugar, ‘Greek café/tavern’ and ‘olive oil, fruits and vegetables’. Individuals more adherent to the local dietary pattern presented higher blood glucose (<jats:italic>β</jats:italic>=4·026, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0·001). Similarly, individuals with higher compliance with the Greek café/tavern pattern had higher waist-to-hip ratio (<jats:italic>β</jats:italic>=0·012, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0·001), blood pressure (<jats:italic>β</jats:italic>=1·015, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic>=0·005) and cholesterol (<jats:italic>β</jats:italic>=5·398, <jats:italic>P</jats:italic><0·001).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec id="S1368980016003207_abs6" sec-type="conclusions"><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Profiling of the MANOLIS elderly population identifies unique unhealthy dietary patterns that are associated with cardiometabolic indices.</jats:p></jats:sec>