Background: Despite widespread use of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as a nutrition policy and education tool, limited empirical data are available to verify that adherence to the Guidelines will reduce incidence of disease. Objective: To examine the association of compliance with the Dietary Guidelines and incident cancers. Design: Data from the Iowa Women’s Health Study, a population-based cohort, were used to examine the relation of compliance with the Dietary Guidelines and incident cancer. Results: For all cancers combined, the relative risks associated with the upper four quintiles of the Dietary Guidelines Index in reference to the bottom quintile were 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87-1.05) for quintile 2, 0.89 (95% CI, 0.81-0.97) for quintile 3, 0.88 (95% CI, 0.80-0.97) for quintile 4, and 0.85 (95% CI 0.77-0.93) for quintile 5, (ptrend < 0.01). Similar patterns in relative risks were found for cancers of the colon, bronchus and lung, breast, and uterus. In contrast, for ovarian cancer relative risks associated with the upper four quintiles were 1.58 (95% CI, 0.90-2.74) for quintile 2, 1.91 (95% CI, 1.12-3.26) for quintile 3, 1.76 (95% CI, 1.02-3.03) for quintile 4, and 2.01 (95% CI 1.18-3.44) for quintile 5 (ptrend=0.01). Conclusion: Findings suggest that adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans may result in a net reduction in risk of cancer.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to discuss the association between compliance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and cancer incidence.
Keywords: Cancer Prevention, Nutrition
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
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Relationship: Not Received.