A traditional Sami diet score as a determinant of mortality in a general northern Swedish population

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between “traditional Sami” dietary pattern and mortality in a general northern Swedish population. STUDY DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. METHODS: We examined 77,319 subjects from the Västerbotten Intervention Program (VIP) cohort. A traditional Sami diet score was constructed by adding 1 point for intake above the median level of red meat, fatty fish, total fat, berries and boiled coffee, and 1 point for intake below the median of vegetables, bread and fibre. Hazard ratios (HR) for mortality were calculated by Cox regression. RESULTS: Increasing traditional Sami diet scores were associated with slightly elevated all-cause mortality in men [Multivariate HR per 1-point increase in score 1.04 (95% CI 1.01–1.07), p=0.018], but not for women [Multivariate HR 1.03 (95% CI 0.99–1.07), p=0.130]. This increased risk was approximately equally attributable to cardiovascular disease and cancer, though somewhat more apparent for cardiovascular disease mortality in men free from diabetes, hypertension and obesity at baseline [Multivariate HR 1.10 (95% CI 1.01–1.20), p=0.023]. CONCLUSIONS: A weak increased all-cause mortality was observed in men with higher traditional Sami diet scores. However, due to the complexity in defining a “traditional Sami” diet, and the limitations of our questionnaire for this purpose, the study should be considered exploratory, a first attempt to relate a “traditional Sami” dietary pattern to health endpoints. Further investigation of cohorts with more detailed information on dietary and lifestyle items relevant for traditional Sami culture is warranted.