Eating frequency has an inverse correlation with adiposity measures and non-invasive arterial stiffness parameters in healthy adult people

BACKGROUND

Lifestyle modifications have been recommended as an essential treatment approach for cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have shown that eating frequency (EF) correlates with hypertension and related risk of organ damage. This study aimed to examine critical clinical implications to evaluate the association of EF with arterial stiffness parameters as an early marker of atherosclerosis manifestations.

METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 658 participants of the PERSIAN Organizational Cohort study in Mashhad, aged 30-70 years. Arterial stiffness was assessed by measurement markers of arteriosclerosis, including arterial age, augmentation index (AIx), augmentation pressure (AP), carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (Cf-PWV), and central blood pressure. Differences in anthropometric indices, blood indices, and arterial stiffness parameters were evaluated across EF groups.

RESULTS

Our data demonstrate that EF was positively correlated with total daily energy intake, and favourable profiles of adiposity and blood lipids. Subjects with an increased EF, had significantly lower AIx, AP, Arterial Age and Central blood pressure (P for trend<0.001) as compared to Lowest EF and not significant with PWV (P for trend, 0.19). Arterial stiffness was also significantly lower in those with increased EF compared with subjects with low EF. By Linear regression analysis, after adjustment for Confounding factors, except PWV, EF showed the associations with all of the non-invasive arterial stiffness parameters.

CONCLUSION

Increased EF is associated with a lower wave reflection and blood pressure in the central arteries.

Association of eating frequency with anthropometric indices and blood pressure in children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-IV Study

OBJECTIVES

This study was conducted to explore the association of eating frequency (EF) with anthropometric indices and blood pressure (BP) in children and adolescents.

METHODS

This nationwide cross-sectional study was performed on a multi-stage sample of 14,880 students, aged 6-18 years, living in 30 provinces in Iran. Parents were asked to report dietary intake of children as frequency of food groups and/or items. EF was defined as the sum of the daily consumption frequency of main meals and snacks. Association of EF with weight disorders, abdominal obesity, and elevated BP was assessed using different logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounding factors.

RESULTS

Eating more frequently (≥ 6 vs. ≤ 3) was found among students who were at younger age (11.91 vs. 13.29 years) (p<0.001). Students who reported an EF of 4 (OR: 0.67, CI: 0.57-0.79), 5 (OR: 0.74, CI: 0.62-0.87), and 6 (OR: 0.54, CI: 0.44-0.65) had lower odds of being obese compared to those who had EF ≤ 3. Having EF of 4 (OR: 0.82, CI: 0.71-0.94), 5 (OR: 0.86, CI: 0.74-0.99), and ≥ 6 (OR: 0.73, CI: 0.63-0.85) was related to lower prevalence of abdominal adiposity.

CONCLUSION

Higher EF was associated with lower mean values of anthropometric and BP measures, as well as with lower prevalence of generalized and abdominal obesity in children and adolescents. Longitudinal studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of EF on body composition in the pediatric age group.