Dietary patterns and predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk in a multiethnic Asian population

Background and aims: Studies examining associations between dietary patterns and Framingham risk score (FRS) and predicted 10-year cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk in an Asian population are lacking. This study aimed to identify a posteriori dietary patterns across three major ethnic groups in Singapore and ascertain their associations with locally modified FRS and predicted 10-year CVD risk.

Methods and results: This cross-sectional study included 8594 Singapore residents (aged 21-75 years) from the Singapore Multi-Ethnic Cohort. Data on sociodemographic and lifestyle factors were collected via questionnaires. Food consumption was assessed using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis and associations with CVD risk factors, FRS and predicted CVD risk (%) were analysed using multiple linear and logistic regression. Four dietary patterns emerged that explained 25.6% of variance. The 'processed food and sugar-sweetened beverages' pattern was significantly associated with higher FRS (β: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.23), while the 'ethnic breads, legumes and nuts' (β: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.22, -0.04) and 'whole grains, fruit and dairy' (β: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.24, -0.10) patterns were significantly associated with lower FRS. The 'meat and vegetables' pattern was not significantly associated with FRS. Increased adherence to the 'whole grains, fruit and dairy' pattern was associated with lower odds of having predicted CVD risk of ≥10% (p-trend: 0.03).

Conclusion: Adherence to the 'ethnic breads, legumes and nuts' and 'whole grains, fruit and dairy' patterns was associated with a lower predicted CVD risk, and an inverse association for the 'processed food and sugar-sweetened beverages' pattern in an Asian population. These findings can inform the development of culturally sensitive dietary interventions to prevent CVD.