Abstract
Background: The organic food market has grown rapidly worldwide in the past 15 years. However, evidence concerning the health effects of organic foods is scarce. We evaluated the cross-sectional association of organic food purchase, as a proxy of organic food consumption, with diabetes in a nationally representative population. Methods: We included 8199 participants aged ≥20 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2008 and 2009–2010. Organic food purchase and frequency were ascertained by questionnaires. Diabetes was defined as a self-reported physician diagnosis or a hemoglobin A1c level ≥6.5% or both. We used logistic regression with sample weights to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Individuals who reported purchasing organic foods were less likely to have diabetes compared to those who did not report organic food purchase. After adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, family history of diabetes, socioeconomic status, and dietary and lifestyle factors, the OR of diabetes associated with organic food purchase was 0.80 (95% CI 0.68–0.93). The association remained significant after additional adjustment for BMI with OR of 0.80 (0.69–0.94). Conclusions: In a nationally representative population, frequent organic food purchase was inversely associated with diabetes prevalence in adults in the United States.
Highlights
Diabetes is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States, and has extensive financial burden [1]
The study population consisted of participants from the 2007–2008 and 2009–2010 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) as the purchase of organic foods was only evaluated in these two cycles
With data from a nationally representative population, we found an inverse association between the purchase of organic foods and diabetes in U.S adults
Summary
Diabetes is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States, and has extensive financial burden [1]. In recent years, accumulating evidence has highlighted the importance of modifiable risk factors, including diet and environmental factors, in the prevention of diabetes [3]. Organic foods seem to be a good candidate for preventing diabetes because they possess both of the aforementioned benefits. Evidence concerning the health effects of organic foods is scarce. We evaluated the cross-sectional association of organic food purchase, as a proxy of organic food consumption, with diabetes in a nationally representative population. Organic food purchase and frequency were ascertained by questionnaires. After adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, family history of diabetes, socioeconomic status, and dietary and lifestyle factors, the OR of diabetes associated with organic food purchase was 0.80 (95% CI 0.68–0.93). Conclusions: In a nationally representative population, frequent organic food purchase was inversely associated with diabetes prevalence in adults in the United States
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