Oral Presentation Joint Annual Scientific Meeting of the Nutrition Society of NZ and the Nutrition Society of Australia

Added sugar intake and incidence of metabolic syndrome in older Australians (338)

Hanieh Moshtaghian 1 , Jimmy Louie 2 , Karen Charlton 1 , Yasmine Probst 1 , Bamini Gopinath 3 , Paul Mitchell 3 , Victoria Flood 4 5
  1. School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Australia
  2. School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, Australia
  3. Centre for Vision Research, Westmead Hospital, University of Sydney
  4. St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney
  5. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the association between percentage of energy intake from added sugar (EAS%) and incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a cohort of older Australians with 10 years of follow-up.

Methods: Data from participants of the Blue Mountains Eye Study (aged ≥49y at baseline, 1992-1994) were used. Dietary data were collected using a 145-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Added sugar content of the FFQ items was estimated using a stepwise systematic method. Participants without MetS symptoms at baseline who had MetS data at 5-year and 10-year follow-ups were included in the study (n=1319). Logistic regression was used to assess the association between baseline EAS% intake and incidence of any MetS in 10 years. The analysis was adjusted for a range of confounding variables, including age, gender, smoking, physical activity, energy intake and other dietary variables, and pre-existing diseases.

Results: Incidence of any MetS was 11.7% throughout the 10-year follow-up. Median (IQR) intake of EAS% quartiles were 3.8% (0.1-5.8), 7.3% (5.8-8.6), 10.2% (8.6-12.3) and 14.9% (12.3-31.4), respectively. In preliminary analyses, participants in the highest quartile of EAS% at baseline were not more likely to develop MetS than participants in the lowest quartile of EAS% (OR: 0.82, 95%CI: 0.47-1.43, p=0.48).

Conclusions: Baseline EAS% was not associated with the 10- year incidence of MetS in this cohort of older Australians.

Funding source(s): BMES was supported by NHMRC.