Dietary patterns are associated with calcium and vitamin D intake in an adult Mexican population

Introduction: Nutrition research has traditionally promoted a nutrient-based approach; however, to evaluate population compliance with dietary recommendations, researchers have increasingly used dietary pattern analysis. Objective: To assess the relationship between dietary patterns and vitamin D and calcium intake in an adult Mexican population. Methods: We characterized the dietary patterns of 8,456 men and women aged 20-80 years who were participating in the Health Workers Cohort Study. Information on participants’ sociodemographic conditions and physical activity was collected via self-administered questionnaires. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess diet. In a cross-sectional analysis, we examined dietary patterns in relation to vitamin D and calcium consumption. Results: Factor analysis revealed 3 major dietary patterns. Pattern 1, labeled as “prudent pattern”, was characterized by high positive loads for the consumption of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, oils, and legumes. The second dietary pattern, named as “dairy and fish pattern”, was positively correlated with intake of dairy foods, fish and other seafood, milk and whole grains. Finally, dietary pattern 3 was associated with higher intake of red meat, soft drinks, fats, eggs, white meat and alcoholic beverages. Of these, the “dairy and fish pattern” was positively and significantly associated with vitamin D and calcium consumption (r = 0.42, p < 0.001; and r = 0.20, p < 0.001 respectively). Conversely, the third dietary pattern was negatively associated with vitamin D and calcium intake (r = -0.28, p < 0.001; and r = -0.41, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: In summary, our findings show that dietary patterns represented by high consumption of milk, dairy products, whole grains, fish are associated with higher consumption of vitamin D and calcium in Mexican adult population. Additionally, our results highlight the importance of following an appropriate dietary pattern to achieve adequate consumption of nutrients.