J. Linseisen

Variability of fish consumption within the 10 European countries participating in the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study

OBJECTIVE To describe and compare the consumption of total fish (marine foods) and the fish sub-groups - white fish, fatty fish, very fatty fish, fish products and crustacea, in participants from the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis of dietary intake using a computerised standardised 24-hour recall interview. Crude means, means and standard errors adjusted by age, season and day of the week were calculated, stratified by centre and gender. SETTING Twenty-seven redefined centres in the 10 European countries participating in the EPIC study. SUBJECTS In total, 35 955 subjects (13 031 men and 22 924 women), aged 35-74 years, selected from the main EPIC cohort. RESULTS A six- to sevenfold variation in total fish consumption exists in women and men, between the lowest consumption in Germany and the highest in Spain. Overall, white fish represented 49% and 45% of the intake of total fish in women and men, respectively, with the greatest consumption in centres in Spain and Greece and the least in the German and Dutch centres. Consumption of fatty fish reflected that of total fish. However, the greatest intake of very fatty fish was in the coastal areas of northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) and in Germany. Consumption of fish products was greater in northern than in southern Europe, with white fish products predominating in centres in France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and Norway. Intake of roe and roe products was low. The highest consumption of crustacea was found in the French, Spanish and Italian centres. The number of fish types consumed was greater in southern than in northern Europe. The greatest variability in consumption by day of the week was found in the countries with the lowest fish intake. CONCLUSIONS Throughout Europe, substantial geographic variation exists in total fish intake, fish sub-groups and the number of types consumed. Day-to-day variability in consumption is also high.

Evaluation of under- and overreporting of energy intake in the 24-hour diet recalls in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

OBJECTIVE To evaluate under- and overreporting and their determinants in the EPIC 24-hour diet recall (24-HDR) measurements collected in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis. 24-HDR measurements were obtained by means of a standardised computerised interview program (EPIC-SOFT). The ratio of reported energy intake (EI) to estimated basal metabolic rate (BMR) was used to ascertain the magnitude, impact and determinants of misreporting. Goldbergs cut-off points were used to identify participants with physiologically extreme low or high energy intake. At the aggregate level the value of 1.55 for physical activity level (PAL) was chosen as reference. At the individual level we used multivariate statistical techniques to identify factors that could explain EI/BMR variability. Analyses were performed by adjusting for weight, height, age at recall, special diet, smoking status, day of recall (weekday vs. weekend day) and physical activity. SETTING Twenty-seven redefined centres in the 10 countries participating in the EPIC project. SUBJECTS In total, 35 955 men and women, aged 35-74 years, participating in the nested EPIC calibration sub-studies. RESULTS While overreporting has only a minor impact, the percentage of subjects identified as extreme underreporters was 13.8% and 10.3% in women and men, respectively. Mean EI/BMR values in men and women were 1.44 and 1.36 including all subjects, and 1.50 and 1.44 after exclusion of misreporters. After exclusion of misreporters, adjusted EI/BMR means were consistently less than 10% different from the expected value of 1.55 for PAL (except for women in Greece and in the UK), with overall differences equal to 4.0% and 7.4% for men and women, respectively. We modelled the probability of being an underreporter in association with several individual characteristics. After adjustment for age, height, special diet, smoking status, day of recall and physical activity at work, logistic regression analyses resulted in an odds ratio (OR) of being an underreporter for the highest vs. the lowest quartile of body mass index (BMI) of 3.52 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.91-4.26) in men and 4.80 (95% CI 4.11-5.61) in women, indicating that overweight subjects are significantly more likely to underestimate energy intake than subjects in the bottom BMI category. Older people were less likely to underestimate energy intake: ORs were 0.58 (95% CI 0.45-0.77) and 0.74 (95% CI 0.63-0.88) for age (> or =65 years vs. <50 years). Special diet and day of the week showed strong effects. CONCLUSION EI tends to be underestimated in the vast majority of the EPIC centres, although to varying degrees; at the aggregate level most centres were below the expected reference value of 1.55. Underreporting seems to be more prevalent among women than men in the EPIC calibration sample. The hypothesis that BMI (or weight) and age are causally related to underreporting seems to be confirmed in the present work. This introduces further complexity in the within-group (centre or country) and between-group calibration of dietary questionnaire measurements to deattenuate the diet-disease relationship.

Plasma carotenoids as biomarkers of intake of fruits and vegetables: individual-level correlations in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Objective:The aim in this study was to assess the association between individual plasma carotenoid levels (α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin) and fruit and vegetable intakes recorded by a calibrated food questionnaire (FQ) and 24-h dietary recall records (24HDR) in nine different European countries with diverse populations and widely varying intakes of plant foods.Design:A stratified random subsample of 3089 men and women from nine countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), who had provided blood samples and dietary and other lifestyle information between 1992 and 2000, were included.Results:β-Cryptoxanthin was most strongly correlated with total fruits (FQ r=0.52, 24HDR r=0.39), lycopene with tomato and tomato products (FQ r=0.38, 24HDR r=0.25), and α-carotene with intake of root vegetables (r=0.39) and of total carrots (r=0.38) for FQ only. Based on diet measured by FQ and adjusting for possible confounding by body mass index (BMI), age, gender, smoking status, alcohol intake, and energy intake, the strongest predictors of individual plasma carotenoid levels were fruits (R partial 2=17.2%) for β-cryptoxanthin, total carrots (R partial 2=13.4%) and root vegetables (R partial 2=13.3%) for α-carotene, and tomato products (R partial 2=13.8%) for lycopene. For 24HDR, the highest R partial 2 was for fruits in relation to β-cryptoxanthin (7.9%).Conclusions:Intakes of specific fruits and vegetables as measured by food questionnaires are good predictors of certain individual plasma carotenoid levels in our multicentre European study. At individual subject levels, FQ measurements of fruits, root vegetables and carrots, and tomato products are, respectively, good predictors of β-cryptoxanthin, α-carotene, and lycopene in plasma.

Use of dietary supplements in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition calibration study

Background:Dietary supplement use is increasing, but there are few comparable data on supplement intakes and how they affect the nutrition and health of European consumers. The aim of this study was to describe the use of dietary supplements in subsamples of the 10 countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).Methods:Specific questions on dietary supplement use were asked as a part of single 24-h recalls performed on 36 034 men and women aged 35–74 years from 1995 to 2000.Results:Between countries, the mean percentage of dietary supplement use varied almost 10-fold among women and even more among men. There was a clear north–south gradient in use, with a higher consumption in northern countries. The lowest crude mean percentage of use was found in Greece (2.0% among men, 6.7% among women), and the highest was in Denmark (51.0% among men, 65.8% among women). Use was higher in women than in men. Vitamins, minerals or combinations of them were the predominant types of supplements reported, but there were striking differences between countries.Conclusions:This study indicates that there are wide variations in supplement use in Europe, which may affect individual and population nutrient intakes. The results underline the need to monitor consumption of dietary supplements in Europe, as well as to evaluate the risks and benefits.

Animal foods, protein, calcium and prostate cancer risk: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

We examined consumption of animal foods, protein and calcium in relation to risk of prostate cancer among 142 251 men in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Associations were examined using Cox regression, stratified by recruitment centre and adjusted for height, weight, education, marital status and energy intake. After an average of 8.7 years of follow-up, there were 2727 incident cases of prostate cancer, of which 1131 were known to be localised and 541 advanced-stage disease. A high intake of dairy protein was associated with an increased risk, with a hazard ratio for the top versus the bottom fifth of intake of 1.22 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07–1.41, Ptrend=0.02). After calibration to allow for measurement error, we estimated that a 35-g day−1 increase in consumption of dairy protein was associated with an increase in the risk of prostate cancer of 32% (95% CI: 1–72%, Ptrend=0.04). Calcium from dairy products was also positively associated with risk, but not calcium from other foods. The results support the hypothesis that a high intake of protein or calcium from dairy products may increase the risk for prostate cancer.

Fruits and vegetables and lung cancer: Findings from the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition

Intake of fruits and vegetables is thought to protect against the development of lung cancer. However, some recent cohort and case‐control studies have shown no protective effect. We have assessed the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and lung cancer incidence in the large prospective investigation on diet and cancer, the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). We studied data from 478,021 individuals that took part in the EPIC study, who were recruited from 10 European countries and who completed a dietary questionnaire during 1992–1998. Follow‐up was to December 1998 or 1999, but for some centres with active follow‐up to June 2002. During follow‐up, 1,074 participants were reported to have developed lung cancer, of whom 860 were eligible for our analysis. We used the Cox proportional hazard model to determine the effect of fruit and vegetable intake on the incidence of lung cancer. We paid particular attention to adjustment for smoking. Relative risk estimates were obtained using fruit and vegetable intake categorised by sex‐specific, cohort‐wide quintiles. After adjustment for age, smoking, height, weight and gender, there was a significant inverse association between fruit consumption and lung cancer risk: the hazard ratio for the highest quintile of consumption relative to the lowest being 0.60 (95% Confidence Interval 0.46–0.78), p for trend 0.0099. The association was strongest in the Northern Europe centres, and among current smokers at baseline, and was strengthened when the 293 lung cancers diagnosed in the first 2 years of follow‐up were excluded from the analysis. There was no association between vegetable consumption or vegetable subtypes and lung cancer risk. The findings from this analysis can be regarded as re‐enforcing recommendations with regard to enhanced fruit consumption for populations. However, the effect is likely to be small compared to smoking cessation.

Physical activity of subjects aged 50-64 years involved in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

OBJECTIVE To describe physical activity of participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). DESIGN A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data of a European prospective cohort study. SUBJECTS This analysis was restricted to participants in the age group 50-64 years, which was represented in all EPIC centres. It involved 236 386 participants from 25 centres in nine countries. In each EPIC centre, physical activity was assessed by standardised and validated questions. Frequency distribution of type of professional activity and participation in non-professional activities, and age-adjusted means, medians and percentiles of time dedicated to non-professional activities are presented for men and women from each centre. RESULTS Professional activity was most frequently classified as sedentary or standing in all centres. There was a wide variation regarding participation in different types of non-professional activities and time dedicated to these activities across EPIC centres. Over 80% of all EPIC participants engaged in walking, while less than 50% of the subjects participated in sport. Total time dedicated to recreational activities was highest among the Dutch participants and lowest among men from Malmö (Sweden) and women from Naples (Italy). In all centres, total time dedicated to recreational activity in the summer was higher than in the winter. Women from southern Europe spent the most time on housekeeping. CONCLUSIONS There is a considerable variation of physical activity across EPIC centres. This variation was especially evident for recreational activities in both men and women.

Air pollution and risk of lung cancer in a prospective study in Europe

To estimate the relationship between air pollution and lung cancer, a nested case‐control study was set up within EPIC (European Prospective Investigation on Cancer and Nutrition). Cases had newly diagnosed lung cancer, accrued after a median follow‐up of 7 years among the EPIC exsmokers (since at least 10 years) and never smokers. Three controls per case were matched. Matching criteria were gender, age (±5 years), smoking status, country of recruitment and time elapsed between recruitment and diagnosis. We studied residence in proximity of heavy traffic roads as an indicator of exposure to air pollution. In addition, exposure to air pollutants (NO2, PM10, SO2) was assessed using concentration data from monitoring stations in routine air quality monitoring networks. Cotinine was measured in plasma. We found a nonsignificant association between lung cancer and residence nearby heavy traffic roads (odds ratio = 1.46, 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.89–2.40). Exposure data for single pollutants were available for 197 cases and 556 matched controls. For NO2 we found an odds ratio of 1.14 (95% CI, 0.78–1.67) for each increment of 10 μg/m3, and an odds ratio of 1.30 (1.02–1.66) for concentrations greater than 30 μg/m3. The association with NO2 did not change after adjustment by cotinine and additional potential confounders, including occupational exposures. No clear association was found with other pollutants.

Dietary patterns and survival of older Europeans : the EPIC-Elderly Study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition).

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association of a posteriori dietary patterns with overall survival of older Europeans. DESIGN AND SETTING This is a multi-centre cohort study. Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the association of the prevailing, a posteriori-derived, plant-based dietary pattern with all-cause mortality in a population of subjects who were 60 years or older at recruitment to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Elderly cohort). Analyses controlled for all known potential risk factors. SUBJECTS In total, 74,607 men and women, 60 years or older at enrolment and without previous coronary heart disease, stroke or cancer, with complete information about dietary intakes and potentially confounding variables, and with known survival status as of December 2003, were included in the analysis. RESULTS An increase in the score which measures the adherence to the plant-based diet was associated with a lower overall mortality, a one standard deviation increment corresponding to a statistically significant reduction of 14% (95% confidence interval 5-23%). In country-specific analyses the apparent association was stronger in Greece, Spain, Denmark and The Netherlands, and absent in the UK and Germany. CONCLUSIONS Greater adherence to the plant-based diet that was defined a posteriori in this population of European elders is associated with lower all-cause mortality. This dietary score is moderately positively correlated with the Modified Mediterranean Diet Score that has been constructed a priori and was also shown to be beneficial for the survival of the same EPIC-Elderly cohort.

Polymorphisms of genes coding for insulin-like growth factor 1 and its major binding proteins, circulating levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 and breast cancer risk: results from the EPIC study

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) stimulates cell proliferation and can enhance the development of tumours in different organs. Epidemiological studies have shown that an elevated level of circulating IGF-I is associated with increased risk of breast cancer, as well as of other cancers. Most of circulating IGF-I is bound to an acid-labile subunit and to one of six insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs), among which the most important are IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-1. Polymorphisms of the IGF1 gene and of genes encoding for the major IGF-I carriers may predict circulating levels of IGF-I and have an impact on cancer risk. We tested this hypothesis with a case–control study of 807 breast cancer patients and 1588 matched control subjects, nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. We genotyped 23 common single nucleotide polymorphisms in IGF1, IGFBP1, IGFBP3 and IGFALS, and measured serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in samples of cases and controls. We found a weak but significant association of polymorphisms at the 5′ end of the IGF1 gene with breast cancer risk, particularly among women younger than 55 years, and a strong association of polymorphisms located in the 5′ end of IGFBP3 with circulating levels of IGFBP-3, which confirms previous findings. Common genetic variation in these candidate genes does not play a major role in altering breast cancer risk in Caucasians.