Korean J Community Nutr.  2021 Jun;26(3):211-227. 10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.3.211.

Association between Relative Preference for Vegetables and Meat and Cancer Incidence in Korean Adults: A Nationwide Population-based Retrospective Cohort Study

Affiliations
  • 1Graduate student, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • 2BK Assistant professor, BK21 FOUR Education and Research Team for Sustainable Food and Nutrition, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • 3Resident, Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  • 4Graduate student, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • 5Graduate student, Interdisciplinary Program in Cancer Biology Major, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
  • 6Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea
  • 7Professor, Clinical Preventive Medicine Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul, Korea
  • 8Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • 9Professor, Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • 10Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • 11Professor, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • 12Professor, Integrative Major in Innovative Medical Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract


Objectives
We aimed to examine the association between the relative preference for vegetables and meat and cancer incidence, in a population-based retrospective cohort in Korea.
Methods
We included 10,148,131 participants (5,794,124 men; 4,354,007 women) who underwent national health screening between 2004 and 2005 from the National Health Information Database of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS-NHID). Participants were asked whether they preferred consuming 1) vegetables more often, 2) both vegetables and meat or 3) meat more often. Participants were followed up to Dec. 31, 2017. All cancer and eighteen common cancer cases were identified through the code from the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. We estimated sexspecific relative risks and 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, and income level.
Results
During an average follow-up of 12.4 years, 714,170 cancer cases were documented. In men, consuming meat more often was associated with lower risk of esophageal, liver, and stomach cancers, but higher risk of lung and kidney cancers. Consuming both vegetables and meat was associated with higher risk of prostate cancer, but with lower risk of esophageal, liver, and stomach cancers in men. In women, consuming meat more often was associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer and breast, endometrial, and cervical cancers diagnosed before the age of 50. Consuming both vegetables and meat was associated with lower risk of liver cancer in women.
Conclusions
Our study suggests a potential link between vegetable and meat intake and cancer incidence in the Korean population. Further investigation on the association between the intake of specific types of vegetables and meat and cancer risk in Korean prospective cohort studies is needed.

Keyword

cancer incidence; meat; vegetables; NHIS-NHID
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