Dietary patterns are associated with blood lipids at 18-year-olds: a cross-sectional analysis nested in the 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort

BACKGROUND: Evidence regarding the deleterious effects of diet on blood lipids in adolescence has been inconsistent, and few studies have investigated this association using a dietary pattern approach. We examined whether dietary pattern of adolescents are associated with blood lipid concentrations. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of 3524 18-year-old participants in the 1993 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study. A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was administered. Dietary patterns were established using principal component analysis and analysed as tertiles of factor scores. Independent associations between each dietary pattern tertile and blood lipid values (total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides) were tested using adjusted linear regression models stratified by sex. Triglycerides were log-transformed due to their skewed distribution, and the beta coefficients should be interpreted as the % change (increase or decrease). RESULTS: Four dietary patterns were derived: Meat Products and Fast Foods; Fruits and Vegetables; Candies, Sodas and Dairy Products; and Common Brazilian Foods. In the adjusted models, which compared the highest and lowest tertiles of dietary pattern scores, we observed that among girls: 1) the third tertile of the Meat Products and Fast Foods pattern was associated with 1.5 mg/dL (95% CI -3.05; –0.04) lower HDL-cholesterol; 2) the second and third tertile of the Candies, Sodas and Dairy Products pattern was associated with 5% and 10% higher triglycerides (β 1.05, 95% CI 1.01; 1.09, β 1.10, 95% CI 1.05; 1.16), respectively; 3) the second and third tertiles of the Common Brazilian Foods pattern were associated with 4 mg/dL (β − 4.30, 95% CI -7.75; –0.85, β − 4.95, 95% CI -8.53; –1.36, respectively) lower total cholesterol and 6% lower triglycerides (β 0.94, 95% CI 0.90; 0.99, β 0.93, 95% CI 0.89; 0.98, respectively). For boys, 4) the third tertile of the Common Brazilian Foods was associated with 4.6 mg/dL (95% CI -7.91; –1.37) lower total cholesterol and 3.8 mg/dL (95% CI -6.51; − 1.13) lower LDL-cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary patterns were more closely associated with blood lipids among girls than boys at age 18. Higher scores for the Common Brazilian Foods pattern were associated with lower total cholesterol in both sexes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12937-018-0389-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.