Association between Milk Consumption and Metabolic Syndrome among Korean Adults: Results from the Health Examinees Study

It has been suggested that a greater dairy consumption, particularly of milk, may have contributed in lowering the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to examine the association between milk consumption and MetS, and its components among Korean adults aged 40–69. A total of 130,420 subjects (43,682 men and 86,738 women) from the Health Examinees Study were selected for the final analysis. Milk consumption was estimated using a validated 106-item food frequency questionnaire. MetS was defined using the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP III). Logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between milk consumption and MetS after adjusting for potential confounders. In this study, the average milk consumption was 77.9 g/day, with the overall prevalence of MetS being 26.1% (29.1% in men and 24.6% in women). We found that the prevalence of the MetS was significantly lower in subjects with higher milk consumption (p < 0.0001). Adjusted OR for MetS was significantly lower in the highest milk consumption category (≥1 serving/day among men; ≥2 serving/day among women) than those in the lowest milk consumption category (OR: 0.92 95%CI: 0.86–0.99, p trend = 0.0160 in men; OR: 0.68, 95%CI: 0.60–0.76, p trend < 0.0001 in women). Overall, higher milk consumption was inversely associated with the MetS components: elevated waist circumference, elevated triglyceride, and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (all p trend < 0.05). This study concludes that higher milk consumption is associated with the lower odds of MetS in Korean adults.