Background/objectives: Identifying groups at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and improving prevention strategies are important due to the high rates of these diseases in the world. We aimed to determine the 10-year ASCVD risk and cardiovascular age gap (CAG) of Canadians 40-79 and the association between prevalent dietary patterns and ASCVD risk, and CAG.
Subjects/methods: Health measures and dietary intake information were obtained from 2088 respondents representative of 13,655,671 Canadians 40-79 years in the cross-sectional Canadian Health Measures Survey Cycles 1 and 2 (2007-11). The estimated 10-year ASCVD risk and CAG were determined for 40-79 years adults across different levels of sociodemographic/lifestyle factors. Dietary patterns emerged using the principal component analysis from 32 food groups collected using food frequency questionnaire. The association between 10-year ASCVD risk, and CAG, with dietary patterns was investigated controlling for potential covariates. Survey data were weighted and bootstrapped to be nationally representative.
Results: The mean 10-year ASCVD risk of 40-79 years was 6.9%. The mean CAG for men was -4.1 years (older) and for females was +0.4 years (younger). Four dietary patterns emerged. Of note, the "High carbohydrate and protein" dietary pattern, which included potatoes, red meat, sausage, egg and ice-cream/frozen yoghurt was positively associated with 10-year ASCVD (Ptrend = 0.013). The "Healthy like" and "Fast food" dietary patterns had an inverse (p < 0.0001) and positive (p = 0.005) association, respectively, with CAG.
Conclusions: Dietary patterns prevalent among this population were associated with CAG and ASCVD risk. Interventions for promoting healthy dietary patterns may be beneficial to reduce ASCVD in Canada.