AUTHOR=Pandya Rachita , Abdelaal Rashed , Chen Joe W. , Masood Shabana , Talib Zohray , Atamna Hani , Yakub Mohsin , Hassan Sherif S. 

TITLE=Retrospective assessment of metabolic syndrome components in early adult life on vegetarian dietary status

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.945805

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.945805

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) encompasses several clinical presentations that include truncal obesity and insulin resistance at its core. MetS afflicts 23% of the adult US population, increasing their risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Many studies have indicated the importance of a vegetarian diet on improving overall health and more specifically MetS components. Unfortunately, these findings have been inconsistent and cannot be extended to examining effects on MetS incidence in the younger adult population.


Objective
This study aimed to conduct a retrospective analysis on vegetarian versus non-vegetarian dietary status in young adults (ages 18-24) based on MetS components in later adulthood (ages 20-30). This study focuses on elucidating any relationship between a vegetarian diet and MetS components of central obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.

Methods
Waves 3 and 4 data were acquired from AddHealth. One-to-one propensity score matched vegetarians to non-vegetarians in a cohort of 535 females and 159 males. Logistical regression assessed the relationship between vegetarian status and MetS components, including truncal obesity (cm), hypertension (normal, pre-HT, HT1, HT2), and hyperlipidemia (high, low).

Results
MetS components from ages 20-30 are not associated with vegetarian dietary status. Truncal obesity (N=694; M=92.82cm; OR 0.999; p=0.893; 95% CI (0.980, 1.017)); hypertension (N=694; OR 0.949; p=0.638; 95% CI (0.764, 1.179)); hyperlipidemia (N=694; OR 0.840; p=0.581; 95% CI (0.453, 1.559)).

Conclusion
Current study results were consistent with previous findings suggesting that consumption of vegetarian diet cannot be directly linked to MetS outcomes. However, further investigation should be completed as MetS is a risk factor for several chronic diseases.