Relationship between carbohydrate intake and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Chinese adults: data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS).

It is well known that dietary factors affect the development of cardiovascular disease. We evaluated the associations between carbohydrate intake and cardiovascular disease risk factors using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, 2009.A total of 6,648 Chinese adults aged 18-60 were divided into five groups based on carbohydrate intake (% of energy). Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to estimate the risk factors in relation to carbohydrate intake, and mixed-effect logistic regression models were used to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease.When age was adjusted, carbohydrate intake was negatively correlated with total cholesterol and triglycerides in men and total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in women. However, there were positive associations of carbohydrate intake with waist circumference, body mass index, and blood pressure in women. After additional adjustment for urbanicity index, income, physical activity, education, alcohol and smoking, and dietary intake, the 5th quintile of carbohydrate intake reduced the risk for high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in women (OR=0.73, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.99) compared with the 1st quintile. However, the top quintile of carbohydrate intake increased the risk for impaired glucose tolerance in men (OR=2.08, 95% CI: 1.04, 4.16) compared with the lowest quintile after adjusting for all confounders.Higher-carbohydrate diets may associate with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Moderate carbohydrate intake is recommended for daily consumption. These results suggest that improving dietary patterns may be an important approach to the prevention of cardiovascular disease in Chinese adults.