Association of milk consumption with management and incidence of hypertension among South Korean adults: A prospective analysis of the health examinees study cohort

Abstract

Background and aims: Studies have revealed a positive relationship between milk consumption and hypertension. However, few researchers have investigated the association between milk consumption and changes in blood pressure (BP) in South Korean adults. Therefore, we examined the association between milk intake and the management and risk of hypertension in South Korean adults. Methods and results: Participants were selected from the Health Examinees study. The definition of hypertension was based on the guidelines of the Korean Society of Hypertension. The participants were divided into three groups according to changes between baseline and follow-up BP data. Milk consumption was assessed using food frequency questionnaires. In both men and women, the higher milk consumption group had increased odds of trends of BP improvement (OR: 1.249, 95% CI: 1.043–1.496, p for trend: 0.2271 in men; OR: 1.147, 95% CI: 1.014–1.297, p for trend: 0.0293 in women) and decreased odds of trends of worsening (OR: 0.861, 95% CI: 0.756–0.980, p for trend: <0.0001 in men, OR: 0.866, 95% CI: 0.794–0.943, p for trend: 0.0010 in women) compared to those of the non-consumption group. In the prospective study, milk intake was inversely associated with hypertension risk (HR: 0.900, 95% CI: 0.811–0.999, p for trend: 0.0076 in men; HR: 0.879, 95% CI: 0.814–0.949, p for trend: 0.0002 in women). Conclusion: Increased intake of milk was inversely related to the risk of increased BP, with a decreased risk of hypertension events. © 2022 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University