Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Maternal nutrition, infants and children

The effect of dairy consumption on blood pressure in mid-childhood: CAPS cohort study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 652–657 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:

It has been postulated that a higher dairy consumption may affect blood pressure regulation. The aim of this study was to examine the association between dairy consumption and blood pressure in mid-childhood.

SUBJECTS/METHODS:

Subjects (n=335) were participants of a birth cohort at high risk of asthma with information on diet at 18 months and blood pressure at 8 years. Multivariate analyses were used to assess the association of dairy consumption (serves) and micronutrient intakes (mg). In a subgroup of children (n=201), dietary intake was also measured at approximately 9 years.

RESULTS:

Children in the highest quintile of dairy consumption at 18 months had lower systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at 8 years (2.5 mm Hg, P=0.046 and 1.9 mm Hg, P=0.047, respectively) than those in the lowest quintiles. SBP was lowest among children in the highest quintiles of calcium, magnesium and potassium intakes. Significant negative linear trends were observed between SBP and intakes of dairy serves, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Furthermore, SBP and DBP were lowest in the group of children that consumed at least two dairy serves at both 18 months and the follow-up dietary data collection at 9 years, compared with all other children (SBP 98.7 vs 101.0 mm Hg, P=0.07; and DBP 56.5 vs 59.3 mm Hg, P=0.006, respectively).

CONCLUSION:

These results are consistent with a protective effect of dairy consumption in childhood on blood pressure at age 8 years.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Huang N, Duggan K, Harman J . Lifestyle management of hypertension. Aust Prescr 2008; 31, 150–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Chen X, Wang Y . Tracking of blood pressure from childhood to adulthood: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Circulation 2008; 117, 3171–3180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Lurbe E, Cifkova R, Cruickshank JK, Dillon MJ, Ferreira I, Invitti C et al. Management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents: recommendations of the European Society of Hypertension. J Hypertension 2009; 27, 1719–1742.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mitchell P, Cheung N, de Haseth K, Taylor B, Rochtchina E, Islam FM et al. Blood pressure and retinal arteriolar narrowing in children. Hypertension 2007; 49, 1156–1162.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ascherio A, Hennekens C, Willett W, Sacks F, Rosner B, Manson J et al. Prospective study of nutritional factors, blood pressure, and hypertension among US women. Hypertension 1996; 27, 1065–1072.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Elwood PC, Pickering JE, Fehily AM, Hughes J, Ness AR . Milk drinking, ischaemic heart disease and ischaemic stroke I. Evidence from the Caerphilly cohort. Eur J Clin Nutr 2004; 58, 711–717.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Alonso A, Beunza JJ, Delgado-Rodríguez M, Martínez JA, Martínez-González MA . Low-fat dairy consumption and reduced risk of hypertension: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) cohort. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 82, 972–979.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Snijder MB, van Dam RM, Stehouwer CD, Hiddink GJ, Heine RJ, Dekker JM . A prospective study of dairy consumption in relation to changes in metabolic risk factors: the Hoorn Study. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2008; 16, 706–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wang L, Manson JE, Buring JE, Lee IM, Sesso HD . Dietary intake of dairy products, calcium, and vitamin D and the risk of hypertension in middle-aged and older women. Hypertension 2008; 51, 1073–1079.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Alonso A, Steffen LM, Folsom AR . Dairy intake and changes in blood pressure over 9 years: the ARIC study. Eur J Clin Nutr 2009; 63, 1272–1275.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Engberink MF, Hendriksen MA, Schouten EG, van Rooij FJ, Hofman A, Witteman JC et al. Inverse association between dairy intake and hypertension: the Rotterdam Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 89, 1877–1883.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Engberink MF, Geleijnse JM, de Jong N, Smit HA, Kok FJ, Verschuren WM . Dairy intake, blood pressure, and incident hypertension in a general Dutch population. J Nutr 2009; 139, 582–587.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Toledo E, Delgado-Rodríguez M, Estruch R, Salas-Salvadó J, Corella D, Gomez-Gracia E et al. Low-fat dairy products and blood pressure: follow-up of 2290 older persons at high cardiovascular risk participating in the PREDIMED study. Br J Nutr 2009; 101, 59–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Pereira MA, Jacobs Jr DR, Van Horn L, Slattery ML, Kartashov AI, Ludwig DS . Dairy consumption, obesity, and the insulin resistance syndrome in young adults: the CARDIA Study. JAMA 2002; 287, 2081–2089.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Steffen LM, Kroenke CH, Yu X, Pereira MA, Slattery ML, Van Horn L et al. Associations of plant food, dairy product, and meat intakes with 15-y incidence of elevated blood pressure in young black and white adults: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 82, 1169–1177.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Moore LL, Singer MR, Bradlee ML, Djoussé L, Proctor MH, Cupples LA et al. Intake of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products in early childhood and subsequent blood pressure change. Epidemiology 2005; 16, 4–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Huth PJ, DiRienzo DB, Miller GD . Major scientific advances with dairy foods in nutrition and health. J Dairy Sci 2005; 89, 1207–1221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kris-Etherton PM, Grieger JA, Hilpert KF, West SG . Milk products, dietary patterns and blood pressure management. J Am Coll Nutr 2009; 28 (Suppl 1), S103–S119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Appel LJ, Moore TJ, Obarzanek E, Vollmer WM, Svetkey LP, Sacks FM et al. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. DASH Collaborative Research Group. N Engl J Med 1997; 336, 1117–1124.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Sacks FM, Svetkey LP, Vollmer WM, Appel LJ, Bray GA, Harsha D et al. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. N Engl J Med 2001; 344, 3–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Couch SC, Saelens BE, Levin L, Dart K, Falciglia G, Daniels SR . The efficacy of a clinic-based behavioral nutrition intervention emphasizing a DASH-type diet for adolescents with elevated blood pressure. J Pediatr 2008; 152, 494–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Mihrshahi S, Peat JK, Webb K, Tovey ER, Marks GB, Mellis CM et al. The childhood asthma prevention study (CAPS): design and research protocol of a randomized trial for the primary prevention of asthma. Control Clin Trials 2001; 22, 333–354.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Mihrshahi S, Vukasin N, Forbes S, Wainwright C, Krause W, Ampon R et al. Are you busy for the next 5 years? Recruitment in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (CAPS). Respirology 2002; 7, 147–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Webb KL, Lahti-Koski M, Rutishauser I, Hector DJ, Knezevic N, Gill T et al. Consumption of ‘extra’ foods (energy-dense, nutrient-poor) among Australian children from western Sydney aged 16–24 months. Public Health Nutr 2006; 9, 1035–1044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. 2007. Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey — User Guide. Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra, 2008: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/phd-nutrition-childrens-survey-userguide (accessed May 2009).

  26. Livingstone MB, Robson PJ, Wallace JM . Issues in dietary intake assessment of children and adolescents. Br J Nutr 2004; 92 (Suppl 2), S213–S222.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Burrows TL, Martin RJ, Collins CE . A systematic review of the validity of dietary assessment methods in children when compared with the method of doubly labeled water. J Am Diet Assoc 2010; 110, 1501–1510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Torun B, Davies PS, Livingstone MB, Paolisso M, Sackett R, Spurr GB . Energy requirements and dietary energy recommendations for children and adolescents 1–18 years old. Eur J Clin Nutr 1996; 50 (Suppl 1), S37–S80.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Food standards Australia and New Zealand. NUTTAB 2006: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/monitoringandsurveillance/nuttab2006/ (accessed May 2009).

  30. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, 2000. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/growthcharts/resources/sas.htm (accessed Nov 2008).

  31. Jones CR, Taylor K, Poston L, Shennan AH . Validation of the Welch Allyn ‘Vital Signs’ oscillometric blood pressure monitor. J Hum Hypertens 2001; 15, 191–195.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Ayer JG, Harmer JA, Xuan W, Toelle B, Webb K, Almqvist C et al. Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in early childhood: effects on blood pressure and arterial structure and function at age 8 y. Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 90, 438–446.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Australian Bureau of Statistics. ABS Census of Population and Housing: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia—Data only, 2006 Catalogue No. 2033.0.55.001. AGPS: Canberra, 2008.

  34. Willett W . Nutritional Epidemiology. Monographs in epidemiology and biostatistics vol. 15., Oxford University Press: New York, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Smith A, Kellett E, Schmerlaib Y . The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating: Background Information for Nutrition Educators. Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services: Canberra, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Geleijnse JM, Hofman A, Witteman JCM, Hazebroek AJM, Valkenburg HA, Grobbee DE . Long-term effects of neonatal sodium restriction on blood pressure. Hypertension 1997; 29, 913–917.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Niinikoski H, Jula A, Viikari J, Rönnemaa T, Heino P, Lagström H et al. Blood pressure is lower in children and adolescents with a low-saturated-fat diet since infancy: The Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project. Hypertension 2009; 53, 918–924.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Garden F, Marks G, Almqvist C, Simpson JM, Webb KL . Infant and early childhood dietary predictors of overweight at age 8 years in the CAPS population. Eur J Cl Nutr 2011; 65, 454–462.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Carruth BR, Skinner JD . The role of dietary calcium and other nutrients in moderating body fat in preschool children. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2001; 25, 559–566.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Phillips SM, Bandini LG, Cyr H, Colclough-Douglas S, Naumova E, Must A . Dairy food consumption and body weight and fatness studied longitudinally over the adolescent period. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2003; 27, 1106–1113.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Berkey CS, Rockett HR, Willett WC, Colditz GA . Milk, dairy fat, dietary calcium, and weight gain: a longitudinal study of adolescents. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2005; 159, 543–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Moore LL, Bradlee ML, Gao D, Singer MR . Low dairy intake in early childhood predicts excess body fat gain. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2006; 14, 1010–1018.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The fourth report on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure in children and adolescents. Pediatrics 2004; 114, 555–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Simons-Morton DG, Hunsberger SA, Van Horn L, Barton BA, Robson AM, McMahon RP et al. Nutrient intake and blood pressure in the Dietary Intervention Study in Children. Hypertension 1997; 29, 930–936.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Falkner B, Sherif K, Michel S, Kushner H . Dietary nutrients and blood pressure in urban minority adolescents at risk for hypertension. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2000; 154, 918–922.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Obarzanek E, Wu CO, Cutler JA, Kavey RE, Pearson GD, Daniels SR . Prevalence and incidence of hypertension in adolescent girls. J Pediatr 2010; 157, 461–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Law MR, Morris JK, Wald NJ . Use of blood pressure lowering drugs in the prevention of cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of 147 randomised trials in the context of expectations from prospective epidemiological studies. BMJ 2009; 338, b1665.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Huang TT, McCrory MA . Dairy intake, obesity, and metabolic health in children and adolescents: knowledge and gaps. Nutr Rev 2005; 63, 71–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.. 2007 Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey — Main Findings.. Commonwealth of Australia: Canberra, 2008: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/phd-nutrition-childrens-survey. (accessed May 2009).

  50. Muntner P, He J, Cutler JA, Wildman RP, Whelton PK . Trends in blood pressure among children and adolescents. JAMA 2004; 291, 2107–2113.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the contributions of the CAPS families for participating in the assessments, the CAPS research team for advice and supplying the data for this secondary analysis. Dairy Australia funded this analysis. The University of Sydney Research Foundation and the Asthma Foundation of NSW funded the dietary assessment at the 8-year follow-up. The CAPS was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Cooperative Research Centre for Asthma, New South Wales Department of Health and the Children's Hospital Westmead. The 18-month dietary data collection was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. Analyses including creation of the dietary data entry and analysis program were funded by the Centre for Public Health Nutrition, New South Wales Health Department, and Meat and Livestock Australia. This work was sponsored in part by Dairy Australia

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Molecular Bioscience, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

    A M Rangan & G Denyer

  2. Cluster for Public Health Nutrition, Boden Institute, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

    A M Rangan, V L Flood & T P Gill

  3. School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia

    V L Flood

  4. Department Of Cardiology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    J G Ayer

  5. Center for Weight and Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    K L Webb

  6. Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    G B Marks

  7. Department Of Medicine, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

    D S Celermajer

Authors
  1. A M Rangan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. V L Flood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G Denyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J G Ayer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K L Webb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. G B Marks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. D S Celermajer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. T P Gill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A M Rangan.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Contributors: TPG, VLF and AMR developed the study proposal. AMR coded and analysed the data, interpreted the results and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors were involved in the subsequent edits of the manuscript, and read and approved the final manuscript.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rangan, A., Flood, V., Denyer, G. et al. The effect of dairy consumption on blood pressure in mid-childhood: CAPS cohort study. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 652–657 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.218

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.218

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links