Food Groups Associated with a Reduced Risk of 15‐year All‐cause Death

Abstract

We investigated all‐cause death according to the consumption of different food groups and identified dietary patterns independently associated with a reduced risk of death.Methods:We undertook a population survey of middle‐aged men randomly selected from three areas of France and followed over a median of 15 years. Baseline data collection included a food consumption record. Vital status was obtained on 31 December 2010 through the French national database.Results:The study population comprised 960 men (mean age 55.5). After a median follow‐up of 14.8 (interquartile range 14.3–15.2) years, 150 (15.6%) subjects had died. Dietary patterns that remained independently predictive of a lower risk of death after extensive adjustment for confounders (center, age, economic level, obesity, smoking status, physical activity, serious chronic conditions, and alcohol intake) were: high consumptions (third and fourth quartiles of consumption versus other quartiles) of milk (adjusted relative risk 0.61, 95% confidence interval 0.44–0.86), and fruits and vegetables (0.66, 0.46–0.94), and moderate consumptions (third quartile versus other quartiles) of yogurts and cottage cheese (0.50, 95% CI 0.31–0.80), other cheeses (0.63, 0.40–0.98), and bread (0.58, 0.37–0.89).ConclusionsDietary patterns that largely match recommendations were associated with a reduced risk of all‐cause death. A diet providing moderate amounts of diverse food groups was associated with the highest life expectancy.