(P11-021-25) Evaluating Pork Consumption's Direct and Mediated Effects on Lipid Profiles Using High-Dimensional Mediation Analysis: New Frontiers in Nutritional Epidemiology

Objectives: Nutritional epidemiology faces the critical challenge of accounting for the complex interplay of multiple confounding factors when evaluating dietary impacts on health outcomes. This study aims to clarify the effects of pork consumption on lipid profiles by applying a high-dimensional mediation analysis. This innovative approach distinguishes direct effects from those mediated by socio-demographic, dietary, and lifestyle factors, providing more reliable estimates and addressing the limitations of traditional methods.

Methods: The analysis will use data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2018, focusing on adults with complete dietary and laboratory data. Pork consumption, classified into fresh and processed pork, will be assessed using 24-hour dietary recall data. Lipid profiles, including total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides, will serve as outcomes. The methodology uses machine-learning techniques for dimensionality reduction to handle correlations among multiple mediators, such as socioeconomic status, dietary patterns, and health behaviors. This process reduces high-dimensional data into latent variables, which are then incorporated into a traditional mediation model to estimate direct and indirect effects. The robustness of the findings will be ensured through rigorous validation procedures.

Results: N/A

Conclusions: This study addresses a key limitation in nutritional epidemiology by applying advanced analytical techniques to untangle the complex relationships between pork consumption and lipid profiles. The findings are expected to provide clearer, evidence-based insights into how dietary and lifestyle factors influence these associations, ultimately informing public health recommendations and dietary guidelines.

Funding Sources: The study received an unrestricted grant from The National Pork Board.