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Topical Area: Nutritional Epidemiology

Nutritional Epidemiology (I) (Poster Session)

(P19-054-23) A Traditional Rural Dietary Pattern Is Associated With Lower All-Cause Mortality in Elderly Costa Ricans: The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES)

Sunday, July 23, 2023

12:45 PM – 1:45 PM ET

Location: Poster Board 151

Presenting Author(s)

Yundan Zhang, MS (she/her/hers)

Student
School of Public Health, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Co-Author(s)

ER

Edward A. Ruiz-Narváez, ScD

Associate Professor
School of Public Health, University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
MC

Mónica V. V. Cortés-Ortiz, n/a

Researcher
Health Research Institute, University of Costa Rica
Agua Caliente, Cartago, Costa Rica
AB

Ana Baylin, MD,DrPH

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Cindy W. Leung, ScD, MPH (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
LR

Luis Rosero-Bixby

Central America Population Center, University of Costa Rica

Disclosure(s):

Yundan Zhang, MS: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Cindy W. Leung, ScD, MPH: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Objectives: To investigate the association between traditional dietary pattern and all-cause mortality among elderly Costa Ricans.

Methods: The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES) is a prospective study of 2,827 elderly Costa Ricans (60+ years at baseline) started in 2005. We used a food frequency questionnaire to assess usual diet at baseline and calculated dietary patterns using Principal Component Analysis. Multivariable energy-adjusted proportional-hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) between dietary pattern quintiles and all-cause mortality.

Results: Over 24 years of follow-up, 1,715 deaths occurred during 25,003 person-years. The traditional Costa Rican rice and beans dietary pattern was associated with reduced all-cause mortality (HR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.68, 0.96 for Q4 compared to Q1, and HR = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.73, 1.02 for Q5 compared to Q1). Analysis of individual foods showed that beans intake was associated with reduced all-cause mortality (HR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.75, 0.96 for T2 compared to T1, and HR = 0.85; 95% = 0.74, 0.99 for T3 compared to T1). Sex-stratified analysis showed no evidence of heterogeneity by sex. The modern western dietary pattern and intake of rice was not associated with all-cause mortality overall and in sex-stratified analysis.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that a traditional Costa Rican rural dietary pattern is associated with reduced all-cause mortality in elderly Costa Ricans. Beans, a major component of this traditional dietary pattern, was also associated with reduced all-cause mortality. These findings could have important implications for public health, given the nutritional transition and the reduction of intake of traditional diets in Latin American countries.

Funding Sources: CRELES data collection was supported by a grant of the Wellcome Trust.