Original Article

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2009) 63, S263–S274; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2009.85

Specific food group combinations explaining the variation in intakes of nutrients and other important food components in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition: an application of the reduced rank regression method

Guarantor: J Kröger.

Contributors: JK carried out the statistical analyses, prepared the tables and figures, and wrote the paper, taking into account comments from all co-authors. NS was the overall coordinator of this project and of the EPIC Nutrient DataBase (ENDB) project. JK, PF, MJ, CB, MT, HBB-d-M, MTF, VB, MS, EW, HB, KH and MBS were members of the writing group and gave input on the statistical analyses, drafting of the manuscript and interpretation of results. The other co-authors were local EPIC collaborators who participated in the collection of dietary and other data, and in the ENDB project. ER is the overall coordinator of the EPIC study. All co-authors provided comments and suggestions on the manuscript and approved the final version.

J Kröger1, P Ferrari2,27, M Jenab3, C Bamia4, M Touvier5,6, H B Bueno-de-Mesquita7, M T Fahey8, V Benetou4, M Schulz1, E Wirfält9, H Boeing1, K Hoffmann1,malt, M B Schulze1,28, P Orfanos4, E Oikonomou4, I Huybrechts2, S Rohrmann10, T Pischon1, J Manjer11, A Agren12, C Navarro13, P Jakszyn14, M C Boutron-Ruault5, M Niravong5, K T Khaw15, F Crowe16, M C Ocké7, Y T van der Schouw17, A Mattiello18, M Bellegotti19, D Engeset20, A Hjartåker21, R Egeberg22, K Overvad23, E Riboli24, S Bingham25,26,malt and N Slimani2

  1. 1Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany
  2. 2Dietary Exposure Assessment Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
  3. 3Lifestyle and Cancer Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
  4. 4Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece
  5. 5Inserm, ERI 20, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
  6. 6AFSSA (French Food Safety Agency), DERNS/PASER, Maisons-Alfort, France
  7. 7National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands
  8. 8Biostatistics Unit, Medical Research Council and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  9. 9Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
  10. 10Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
  11. 11Department of Surgery, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
  12. 12Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional Research, University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden
  13. 13Epidemiology Department, Murcia Health Council, Murcia and CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
  14. 14Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Barcelona, Spain
  15. 15University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK
  16. 16Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  17. 17Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  18. 18Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Naples, Federico II, Naples, Italy
  19. 19Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Department of Preventive & Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy
  20. 20Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
  21. 21Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo, Norway
  22. 22Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
  23. 23Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
  24. 24Department of Epidemiology, Public Health and Primary Care, Imperial College, London, UK
  25. 25Diet and Cancer Group, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Cambridge, UK
  26. 26Department of Public Health and Primary Care, MRC Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology in Cancer Prevention and Survival, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Correspondence: J Kröger, Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114-116, 14558 Nuthetal, Germany. E-mail: kroeger@dife.de

maltThe authors are deceased.

27Current address: Data Collection and Exposure Unit (DATEX), European Food Safety Authority, Parma, Italy.

28Current address: Public Health Nutrition Unit, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany.

Top

Abstract

Objective:

 

To identify combinations of food groups that explain as much variation in absolute intakes of 23 key nutrients and food components as possible within the country-specific populations of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Subjects/Methods:

 

The analysis covered single 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDR) from 36 034 subjects (13 025 men and 23 009 women), aged 35–74 years, from all 10 countries participating in the EPIC study. In a set of 39 food groups, reduced rank regression (RRR) was used to identify those combinations (RRR factors) that explain the largest proportion of variation in intake of 23 key nutrients and food components, namely, proteins, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, cholesterol, sugars (sum of mono- and disaccharides), starch, fibre, alcohol, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin D, beta-carotene, retinol and vitamins E, B1, B2, B6, B12 and C (RRR responses). Analyses were performed at the country level and for all countries combined.

Results:

 

In the country-specific analyses, the first RRR factor explained a considerable proportion of the total nutrient intake variation in all 10 countries (27.4–37.1%). The subsequent RRR factors were much less important in explaining the variation (less than or equal to6%). Strong similarities were observed for the first country-specific RRR factor between the individual countries, largely characterized by consumption of bread, vegetable oils, red meat, milk, cheese, potatoes, margarine and processed meat. The highest explained variation was seen for protein, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium (50–70%), whereas sugars, beta-carotene, retinol and alcohol were only marginally explained (less than or equal to5%). The explained proportion of the other nutrients ranged between these extremes.

Conclusions:

 

A combination of food groups was identified that explained a considerable proportion of the nutrient intake variation in 24-HDRs in every country-specific EPIC population in a similar manner. This indicates that, despite the large variability in food and nutrient intakes reported in the EPIC, the variance of intake of important nutrients is explained, to a large extent, by similar food group combinations across countries.

Keywords:

food group combinations, food component intakes, nutrient intakes, reduced rank regression, EPIC, 24-h dietary recall

Extra navigation

.

naturejobs

More science jobs
Post a job for free
ADVERTISEMENT