The development of cardiovascular diseases can start at an early age, although the clinical manifestations commonly appear in adulthood. Previous studies have reported that the adherence to an overall healthy dietary pattern is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular mortality among adults. However, there are few reports on the association of dietary patterns with cardiometabolic risk factors and cardiovascular structure and function before the clinical manifestations of cardiovascular diseases among adolescents.

The objective of this study is to assess the association of dietary patterns at the age of 7, 10 and 13 years with cardiometabolic risk factors and cardiovascular structure and function at the age of 17 years.

The study population will be 2 121 adolescents participating in the ALSPAC, a 50 % subsample of clinic attendees at the age of 17 years. Measures of cardiometabolic risk factors include fasting concentrations of glucose, insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and a cardiometabolic risk score. Measures of cardiovascular structure and function included carotid intima-media thickness, artery stiffness and endothelial function. Dietary intake was assessed by 3-day food records at the age of 7, 10 and 13 years. Dietary patterns were extracted using principal component analysis. The associations of dietary patterns with cardiometabolic risk factors and cardiovascular structure and function will be analyzed using multiple linear regression models adjusted for potential confounding factors.

The proposed study will be conducted in 2016.