Association between dairy consumption and ischemic heart disease among Chinese adults: a prospective study in Qingdao

BACKGROUND: Previous studies linking dairy consumption with ischemic heart disease (IHD) are almost from western countries, with little from China. The present study was to explore the relationship between dairy consumption and IHD among Chinese adults. METHODS: The data for the present study was from the prospective cohort study of China Kadoorie Biobank in Qingdao, a total of 33,355 participants in the present study. An interviewer-administered laptop-based questionnaire was used to collect information on the consumption frequency of dairy, incident IHD cases were identified through Disease Surveillance Point System and the new national health insurance databases. Cox regression analyses were performed to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and confidence interval for the relationship between the incidence of IHD and dairy consumption. RESULTS: The baseline survey reported that 32.4% of males and 34.6% of females consumed dairy regularly (i.e. ≥ 4 days/week). Over an average of 9.2 years follow-up, 2712 new-onset IHD were documented. Compared with participants who never or rarely consume dairy, the HR of consumed dairy regularly was 0.85(0.73–0.98) for males (P < 0.05), while no significant benefits were identified for females. CONCLUSIONS: Regular dairy consumption had an inverse association to the onset of IHD among males, with no similar findings for females. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12986-022-00645-9.