The article by Halkjær and colleagues (
1
) in this issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association examines the relationship between waist circumference and foods or food groups in
a large sample of 44,897 men and women from the Danish Cancer and Health Study who
were examined in 1993-1997 at the age of 50 to 64 years and followed up in 1999-2002.
The initial rate of volunteering in 1993-1997 was 35% and all but 17% of this group
were re-examined. Foods were estimated from a 192-item semiquantitative food frequency
questionnaire. Energy intake from 19 food and beverage groups was estimated. In a
previous study of the same population in which macronutrients were examined, there
were no relationships identified (
2
). In summarizing their results in this paper, Halkjær and colleagues (
1
) suggest that subsequent investigations from their group might focus on food patterns
rather than individual food items or groups as this study has done. The influence
of dietary patterns, as opposed to individual nutrients, is nowhere more clearly illustrated
than in the study of dietary patterns and blood pressure in which diets rich in fruits
and vegetables and low-fat dairy products significantly reduced blood pressure (
3
). Certainly, the underlying premise of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension
(DASH) trials was that an overall dietary pattern and not specific foods or nutrients
was key to reducing hypertension (
3
); as a result, the DASH diet has been promoted in the United States and has commanded
worldwide attention.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Biography
G. A. Bray is a Boyd professor, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA.
Biography
C. M. Champagne is a professor of research, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA.
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
April 30,
2009
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
