Calcium intake associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease among obese adults

Background: The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is high in obese people. The potential effects of inadequate calcium intake on CVD are receiving increased attention. We assessed the association between several risk factors for CVD and calcium intake among obese adults. Methods: We investigated 14,856 obese subjects age 20 years or older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2010. ANOVA and Pearson correlation analyses were used to examine if any relationships existed. Simple and multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between risk factors for CVD and calcium intake. Results: After adjusting for energy intake and other potential confounders, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, C-reactive protein, glycosylated hemoglobin, and albuminuria were negatively associated with calcium intake at á=0.05 level in both linear and logistic regression analyses. Adjusted regression coefficients and ORs did not show a significant relationship between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and calcium intake. Total cholesterol was negatively associated with calcium intake in continuous form, but no relationshipwas seen between total cholesterol and the calcium intake quartiles form. When comparing low quartile to high quartile, total cholesterol had a weak negative association with calcium intake at á =0.1 level. Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that adequate calcium intake could decrease the risks of CVD, such as high blood pressure and high glycosylated hemoglobin, among obese adults. However, calcium intake was not associated with HDL levels. More research is needed to assess the effect of total cholesterol by calcium intake.