Eating Fruits and Oats Ups Type 1 Diabetes Risk in Kids

TOPLINE:

MADRID — In children with a genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes (T1D), a higher consumption of oats, fruits, or rye may increase the risk for T1D and islet autoimmunity by the age of 6 years, while eating berries may reduce the risk.

METHODOLOGY:

• An increase in the incidence of T1D suggested a possible role of environmental factors. Some studies link certain foods with islet autoimmunity and T1D, but these associations remain debated.
• Researchers followed 5674 children (3010 boys and 2664 girls) with a genetic susceptibility to T1D from birth to 6 years of age in the Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Study in Finland, the country with the highest incidence of T1D globally.
• Data about food consumption in children were collected using repeated 3-day food records from the age of 3 months to 6 years, with 34 different food groups covering the entire diet.
• The association between diet in infancy and early childhood with the development of T1D was analyzed using a Bayesian approach for joint models, with adjustments for energy intake, human leukocyte antigen genotype, sex, and familial diabetes.
• The endpoints were T1D (n = 94) and islet autoimmunity (n = 206), which put the children at an increased risk for T1D.

TAKEAWAY:

• A higher consumption of gluten-containing rye and wheat (hazard ratio [HR], 1.27; 95% CI, 1.07-1.50), oats (HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03-1.26), and fruits (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.01-1.09) was associated with an increased risk for T1D, while a higher intake of berries (HR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.50-0.93) was linked to a decreased risk for T1D.
• The consumption of cruciferous vegetables (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.70-0.95) was associated with a decreased risk for islet autoimmunity.
• Fermented dairy products (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.12-1.78) and wheat (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.03-1.18) were linked to an increased risk for islet autoimmunity.

IN PRACTICE:

“If berries are found to contain a particular protective factor, for instance, either that substance or berries themselves could be used to prevent T1D,” Suvi Virtanen said in a press release. However, it may be too early to make any dietary recommendations, she concluded.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Virtanen, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, and was published as an early release from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2024 Annual Meeting, held in Madrid, Spain.

LIMITATIONS: 

Several limitations were outlined in an earlier paper referenced in the question-and-answer session. The study could not determine whether the association was causal. Because the study included only children genetically at a risk for T1D, the results cannot be generalized to all children. The researchers cannot exclude the chance of unmeasured confounders. The daily consumption of fruits, berries, and vegetables in the study was low in comparison with Finnish recommendation for children.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was supported by the Research Council of Finland, Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Tampere University Hospital, and EFSD/JDRF/Lilly European Programme in Type 1 Diabetes Research. Virtanen disclosed no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.