Consumption of foods derived from subsidized crop remains associated with cardiometabolic risk: An update on the evidence using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2014

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Whitney Leet Do, Emory University; Kai M. Bullard, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; Aryeh Stein, Emory University; Mohammed Ali, Emory University; K.M. Venkat Narayan, Emory University; Karen Siegel, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-11-01
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu12113244
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nutrients
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 14
• Grant/Funding Information: This article was published with support from Emory Libraries' Open Access Publishing Fund.; W.L.D. was supported in part by the Nalini R. and Ravi K. Saligram Scholarship; K.M.V.N. and M.K.A. were supported in part by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P30DK111024; M.K.A. was supported in part by CDC IPA1505098 and CDC 75D30120P07242.
• Keywords: cardiometabolic disease; farm subsidies; obesity; food policy
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Nutrition; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

In this study, we examined the associations between the consumption of foods derived from crops subsidized under the 2008 United States (US) Farm Bill and cardiometabolic risk factors and whether the magnitude of these associations has changed since the 2002 US Farm Bill. Four federal databases were used to estimate daily consumption of the top seven subsidized commodities (corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, sorghum, dairy, and livestock) and to calculate a subsidy score (0-1 scale) for Americans’ daily dietary intake during 2009-2014, with a higher score indicative of a higher proportion of the diet derived from subsidized commodities. The cardiometabolic risk factors included obesity, abdominal adiposity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and dysglycemia. Linear and logistic regression models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, the poverty-income ratio, the smoking status, educational attainment, physical activity, and daily calorie intake. During 2009-2014, adults with the highest subsidy score had higher probabilities of obesity, abdominal adiposity, and dysglycemia compared to the lowest subsidy score. After the 2002 Farm Bill (measured using data from 2001-2006), the subsidy score decreased from 56% to 50% and associations between consuming a highly-subsidized diet and dysglycemia did not change (p = 0.54), whereas associations with obesity (p = 0.004) and abdominal adiposity (p = 0.002) significantly attenuated by more than half. The proportion of calories derived from subsidized food commodities continues to be associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk factors, though the relationship with obesity and abdominal adiposity has weakened in recent years.