Association between dairy consumption and type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity: Results from a nationally representative survey in Chilean adults

Abstract Current evidence suggests an inverse or neutral association between dairy consumption and obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and hypertension (HT) prevalence. However, there are no studies investigating this relationship in the adult Chilean population. Therefore, we aimed to determine the association between dairy product consumption and the prevalence of these diseases in Chilean adults. This cross-sectional study includes data from the latest Chilean National Health Survey (2016-2017), a nationally representative sample of the Chilean population. The outcomes were the prevalence of obesity, T2D, and HT. Dairy consumption was assessed by frequency (categorized as “low”, “medium,” and “high”, according to frequency of consumption), and types of dairy products consumed (i.e., “skimmed” and “whole-fat”) all of which were self-reported. Adjusted Poisson regression models were performed to determine the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). There was no association between the frequency of dairy consumption and the prevalence of obesity, T2D or HT. The preference for whole-fat dairy products was associated with a 47% lower prevalence of T2D in women (PR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.35-0.80), 29% lower prevalence of abdominal obesity in men (PR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.52-0.97), and 27% lower prevalence of HT in men (PR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.57-0.92), after adjusting for potential covariates. Our study suggests that the frequency of dairy consumption is not associated with the prevalence of obesity, T2D, or HT in Chilean adults.