Association of dietary fiber intake with newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus in middle-aged Chinese population

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological evidence concerning dietary fiber on newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is sparse. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary fiber intake and newly-diagnosed T2DM in a middle-aged Chinese population. METHODS: Using data from the Hangzhou Nutrition and Health Survey collected between June 2015 and December 2016, we investigated the associations between dietary patterns and the risk of chronic non- communicable diseases. Anthropometric measurements and samples collection for biochemical assays are conducted by the well-trained staff and nurse, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the effect of dietary fiber intake on the risk of newly-diagnosed T2DM in crude and adjusted models. RESULTS: Among 3250 participants, 182 (5.6%) people were identified as newly-diagnosed T2DM. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed a significant inverse association of total dietary fiber with BMI, SBP, DBP, HbA1c and LDL-C in all participants, participants with and without T2DM (P < 0.05). Compared with the study participants in the first quartile (Q1, the lowest consumption)of dietary fiber intake, participants in the fourth quartile (Q4) had a lower prevalence of newly-diagnosed T2DM(OR = 0.70; 95%CI:0.49-1.00; P < 0.05), after adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: In this middle-aged Chinese population, higher intake of dietary fiber was significantly associated with lower risk of newly-diagnosed T2DM. However, our findings need to be confirmed in future large-scale prospective studies.