(P17-081-25) The Healthy Eating Index and Mediterranean Diet Scores as Predictors of Cardiovascular Health by Race/Ethnicity

Objectives: To assess if HEI and MedDiet predict cardiovascular risk factors by race/ethnicity among 5,048 participants of using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2020 pre-Pandemic (NHANES).

Methods: We analyzed data from 2,083 Non-Hispanic White, 1,611 Non-Hispanic Black, 728 Mexican American, and 626 Other Hispanic NHANES participants with dietary and cardiovascular risk factor information. HEI and MedDiet scores were calculated using 24-hour recalls, with the highest possible scores of 100 and 18, respectively. Outcomes included overweight (BMI ≥ < 25 kg/m²), hypertension (SBP ≥ 140 mmHg and/or DBP ≥ 90 mmHg) and diabetes (physician diagnosis). Standardized multivariate logistic regression models tested associations between HEI and MedDiet scores and cardiovascular risk outcomes; while adjusting for age, gender, and education. We tested effect modification by race/ethnicity. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Model results are presented as odds ratio; 95% Confidence Interval.

Results: On average, age by race/ethnicity ranged from 44.2±16.8 years among Mexican American to 52.9±19.6 years among non-Hispanic White. Average HEI by race/ethnicity ranged between 50.8±13.3 among non-Hispanic Black and 54.2±14.0 among other Hispanic. Average MedDiet ranged between 6.4 ± 2.2 among non-Hispanic White and 7.3±2.2 in Mexican American. HEI was inversely associated with overweight among Mexican American (0.79, 0.64 to 0.96) and non-Hispanic White (0.86, 0.79 to 0.94) (p for interaction=0.01), and with hypertension among other Hispanic (0.97, 0.94 to 0.99), non-Hispanic White (0.98, 0.96 to 0.99) and non-Hispanic Black (0.97, 0.95 to 0.99) (p for interaction=0.62). MedDiet was not significantly associated with any cardiovascular risk factors after adjustment.

Conclusions: In this cross-sectional analysis, we found HEI scores were inversely diabetewith hypertension in all racial/ethnic groups and with overweight only among Mexican American and non-Hispanic White participants. MedDiet scores were not associated with cardiovascular risk factors in any race/ethnicity groups. These findings support the HEI as a useful predictor of cardiovascular risk. However, further studies are needed to better understand the racial/ethnic differences found in the associations of HEI with overweight by race/ethnicity.

Funding Sources: N/A