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Fruit, vegetable consumption in childhood associated with adult pulse wave velocity
Aatola H. Circulation. 2010;122:2521-2528.
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Low consumption of fruits and vegetable during one’s lifetime is related to arterial stiffness during young adulthood, according to researchers in Finland.
The association between childhood vegetable consumption and adulthood pulse wave velocity remained significant after adjustment for traditional risk factors, including HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic BP, BMI and smoking.
“Lifetime lifestyle risk factors, most specifically vegetable consumption, are associated with arterial stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity,” the researchers wrote. “The decrease in pulse wave velocity appears to be more pronounced if dietary habits remain favorable from childhood to adulthood. These findings highlight the importance of emphasizing dietary habits as early as in childhood in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.”
The researchers studied 1,622 adults who were aged 3 to 18 years when they enrolled in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study in 1980. The participants were followed for 27 years, and they had lifestyle risk factor data available since their enrollment. In 2007, arterial pulse wave velocity was measured.
Vegetable consumption in childhood was inversely related to pulse wave velocity, although the association was lower in females. Fruit consumption, butter use, smoking and physical activity index were not associated with pulse wave velocity in childhood. Adulthood vegetable and fruit consumption were significantly related to pulse wave velocity. There was no significant association between alcohol consumption, smoking or physical activity with pulse wave velocity.
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