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Lipids and cardiovascular/metabolic health

Eating frequency is inversely associated with blood pressure and hypertension in Korean adults: analysis of the Third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 68, pages 481–489 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

A lower eating frequency (EF) has been suggested to be important in the development of cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity and hyperlipidemia. However, the association between EF and blood pressure (BP) remains unclear.

Subjects/methods:

The aim of this study was to explore the association of EF with BP and hypertension after adjusting for confounding variables, including body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). This cross-sectional study used data from the Third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 4625 subjects aged ⩾19 years were included. To explore the association of EF with BP and hypertension, we performed multiple linear regression analyses and multiple logistic regression analyses for survey design, respectively.

Results:

EF was inversely associated with systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP). As EF increased from ⩽2 to 3, 4 and ⩾5 times per day, estimated adjusted means of both SBP and DBP decreased, showing a significant linear trend independent of obesity (SBP: 120.66, 120.23, 119.18 and 117.92 mm Hg, respectively; P<0.001; DBP: 78.36, 77.78, 77.25 and 76.50 mm Hg, respectively; P=0.004). The inverse association between EF and hypertension was gradually attenuated and significant after adjustment for confounding variables including BMI and WC (P=0.040).

Conclusions:

This study suggests that lower EF is significantly associated with higher BP, which may be partially mediated by the effect of central obesity. Further prospective studies are needed to verify this causal relationship.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MEST) (No. 2012-0000998). M-SP, H-JY and SK conceived the study, and G-HP and JHY helped design the study. G-HP, SK and SHC analyzed data and performed statistical analysis. M-SP and SK drafted the manuscript, and SHC, JHY and H-JY helped with the revision of the manuscript. M-SP, H-JY and SK have primary responsibility for the final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. H-J Yoon and M-S Park: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Kangwon National University Hospital, Kangwondo, Republic of Korea

    S Kim & J H Yang

  2. Department of Dermatology, Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Hwaseong, Republic of Korea

    G-H Park

  3. Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    S H Chun & M-S Park

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    H-J Yoon

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Correspondence to M-S Park.

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Kim, S., Park, GH., Yang, J. et al. Eating frequency is inversely associated with blood pressure and hypertension in Korean adults: analysis of the Third Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Eur J Clin Nutr 68, 481–489 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.9

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