AUTHOR=Zhang Yinyin , Lu Cong , Li Xinyu , Fan Yameng , Li Jiaqiao , Liu Yamei , Yu Yan , Zhou Long 

TITLE=Healthy Eating Index-2015 and Predicted 10-Year Cardiovascular Disease Risk, as Well as Heart Age

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.888966

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.888966

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=Background and aims:
Dietary factor plays an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The healthy eating index-2015(HEI-2015), an indicator of the overall dietary quality, has been introduced to reflect adherence to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The present study aims to explore the associations of the HEI-2015 with predicted 10-year CVD risk and heart age among US adults aged 30-74 years old using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014.
Methods and Results:
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among 6,614 participants aged 30-74 years old. The HEI-2015 scores were calculated from 2-days 24-hour dietary recall interviews. The 10-year CVD risk and heart age were derived from the sex-specific Framingham general cardiovascular disease risk score. We defined high cardiovascular disease risk as a predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk > 20%. Multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression models were used to investigate the associations of the HEI-2015 with predicted 10-year CVD risk and heart age. 
Compared with participants in the lowest HEI-2015 quartile, those in the highest quartile had lower predicted 10-year CVD risk (β=-2.37, 95% CI: -3.09--1.65, P<0.0001), lower heart age (β=-2.63, 95% CI: -3.29--1.96, P<0.0001) and lower odds for high risk of CVD (OR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.49-0.80, P-trend < 0.0001) after adjusting for multiple covariates.
Conclusion:
Higher adherence to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is associated with lower predicted 10-year cardiovascular disease risk and lower heart age among US adults.