Association Between Soft Drink Consumption and Mortality in 10 European Countries.

Importance: Soft drinks are frequently consumed, but whether this consumption is associated with mortality risk is unknown and has been understudied in European populations to date.

Objective: To examine the association between total, sugar-sweetened, and artificially sweetened soft drink consumption and subsequent total and cause-specific mortality.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based cohort study involved participants (n = 451 743 of the full cohort) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), an ongoing, large multinational cohort of people from 10 European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), with participants recruited between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 2000.

Maternal history of miscarriages and measures of fertility in relation to childhood asthma.

Background: It remains unclear what underlies the greater risk of asthma reported among children conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Objective: Our aim was to clarify the role of parental subfertility and unmeasured confounding on the association between ART and childhood asthma, and to examine the possibility for common mechanisms underlying parental subfertility and miscarriages influencing asthma pathogenesis.

Methods: We used data from national Norwegian health registries (n=474 402) and the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) (n=75 797).

Vitamin A and D intake in pregnancy, infant supplementation, and asthma development: the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort.

Background: Western diets may provide excess vitamin A, which is potentially toxic and could adversely affect respiratory health and counteract benefits from vitamin D.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine child asthma at age 7 y in relation to maternal intake of vitamins A and D during pregnancy, infant supplementation with these vitamins, and their potential interaction.

Design: We studied 61,676 school-age children (born during 2002-2007) from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort with data on maternal total (food and supplement) nutrient intake in pregnancy (food-frequency questionnaire validated against biomarkers) and infant supplement use at age 6 mo (n = 54,142 children).

Association of Maternal Psychosocial Stress With Increased Risk of Asthma Development in Offspring.

Prenatal maternal psychosocial stress might influence the development of childhood asthma. Evaluating paternal psychosocial stress and conducting a sibling comparison could provide further insight into the role of unmeasured confounding. We examined the associations of parental psychosocial stress during and after pregnancy with asthma at age 7 years in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (n = 63,626; children born in 2000-2007).

Consumption of fruits, vegetables and fruit juices and differentiated thyroid carcinoma risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake is considered as probably protective against overall cancer risk, but results in previous studies are not consistent for thyroid cancer (TC). The purpose of this study is to examine the association between the consumption of fruits, vegetables, fruit juices and differentiated thyroid cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. The EPIC study is a cohort including over half a million participants, recruited between 1991 and 2000.

Maternal Folate Intake during Pregnancy and Childhood Asthma in a Population-based Cohort.

Rationale: A potential adverse effect of high folate intake during pregnancy on children's asthma development remains controversial.

Objectives: To prospectively investigate folate intake from both food and supplements during pregnancy and asthma at age 7 years when the diagnosis is more reliable than at preschool age.

Methods: This study included eligible children born 2002-2006 from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, a population-based pregnancy cohort, linked to the Norwegian Prescription Database.

Sweet-beverage consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Background: The consumption of sweet beverages has been associated with greater risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity, which may be involved in the development of pancreatic cancer. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that sweet beverages may increase pancreatic cancer risk as well.

Objective: We examined the association between sweet-beverage consumption (including total, sugar-sweetened, and artificially sweetened soft drink and juice and nectar consumption) and pancreatic cancer risk.

DNA Methylation Score as a Biomarker in Newborns for Sustained Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy.

Background: Maternal smoking during pregnancy, especially when sustained, leads to numerous adverse health outcomes in offspring. Pregnant women disproportionately underreport smoking and smokers tend to have lower follow-up rates to repeat questionnaires. Missing, incomplete, or inaccurate data on presence and duration of smoking in pregnancy impairs identification of novel health effects and limits adjustment for smoking in studies of other pregnancy exposures.

Maternal plasma total neopterin and kynurenine/tryptophan levels during pregnancy in relation to asthma development in the offspring.

Background: Neopterin levels and kynurenine/tryptophan ratios (KTRs) increase with IFN-γ stimulation, indicating T1 immunity, and thus might be inversely associated with asthma.

Objective: We sought to examine the association of maternal neopterin levels and KTRs during pregnancy with asthma in the offspring.

Methods: We analyzed the associations of maternal plasma total neopterin levels and KTRs in midpregnancy with asthma at age 7 years among 2883 children in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Effect of maternal gestational weight gain on offspring DNA methylation: a follow-up to the ALSPAC cohort study.

Background: Several epidemiologic studies indicate that maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) influences health outcomes in offspring. Any underlying mechanisms have, however, not been established. A recent study of 88 children based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort examined the methylation levels at 1,505 Cytosine-Guanine methylation (CpG) loci and found several to be significantly associated with maternal weight gain between weeks 0 and 18 of gestation.

Consumption of soft drinks and juices and risk of liver and biliary tract cancers in a European cohort.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess associations between intake of combined soft drinks (sugar sweetened and artificially sweetened) and fruit and vegetable juices and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), intrahepatic bile duct (IHBC) and biliary tract cancers (GBTC) using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort of 477,206 participants from 10 European countries.

Methods: After 11.4 years of follow-up, 191 HCC, 66 IHBC and 236 GBTC cases were identified.

Dietary intakes and risk of lymphoid and myeloid leukemia in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

The etiology of leukemias cannot entirely be explained by known risk factors, including ionizing radiation, benzene exposure, and infection with human T cell leukemia virus. A number of studies suggested that diet influences the risk of adult leukemias. However, results have been largely inconsistent.

Behavioural and metabolic risk factors for mortality from colon and rectum cancer: analysis of data from the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration.

Background: Colorectal cancer has several modifiable behavioural risk factors but their relationship to the risk of colon and rectum cancer separately and between countries with high and low incidence is not clear.

Methods: Data from participants in the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC) were used to estimate mortality from colon (International Classification of Diseases, revision 9 (ICD-9) 153, ICD-10 C18) and rectum (ICD-9 154, ICD-10 C19-20) cancers. Data on age, body mass index (BMI), serum cholesterol, height, smoking, physical activity, alcohol and diabetes mellitus were entered into Cox proportional hazards models.

Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research guidelines and risk of death in Europe: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Nutrition and Cancer cohort study1,4.

Background: In 2007, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) issued recommendations on diet, physical activity, and weight management for cancer prevention on the basis of the most comprehensive collection of available evidence.

Objective: We investigated whether concordance with WCRF/AICR recommendations is related to risk of death.

Design: The current study included 378,864 participants from 9 European countries enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Meat consumption and mortality--results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Background: Recently, some US cohorts have shown a moderate association between red and processed meat consumption and mortality supporting the results of previous studies among vegetarians. The aim of this study was to examine the association of red meat, processed meat, and poultry consumption with the risk of early death in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Methods: Included in the analysis were 448,568 men and women without prevalent cancer, stroke, or myocardial infarction, and with complete information on diet, smoking, physical activity and body mass index, who were between 35 and 69 years old at baseline.

Meat intake, cooking methods and risk of proximal colon, distal colon and rectal cancer: the Norwegian Women and Cancer (NOWAC) cohort study.

Red and processed meat intake is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), but epidemiological evidence by subsite and sex is still limited. In the population-based Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort, we examined associations of meat intake with incident proximal colon, distal colon and rectal cancer, in 84,538 women who completed a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) during 1996-1998 or 2003-2005 (baseline or exposure update) at age 41-70 years, with follow-up by register linkages through 2009. We also examined the effect of meat cooking methods in a subsample (n = 43,636).

Macronutrient intake and risk of urothelial cell carcinoma in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition.

Previous studies have suggested that dietary factors may be important in the development of bladder cancer. We examined macronutrient intake in relation to risk of urothelial cell carcinoma among 469,339 men and women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Associations were examined using Cox regression, stratified by sex, age at recruitment and centre and further adjusted for smoking status and duration, body mass index and total energy intake.

Is concordance with World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research guidelines for cancer prevention related to subsequent risk of cancer? Results from the EPIC study.

Background: In 2007 the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) issued 8 recommendations (plus 2 special recommendations) on diet, physical activity, and weight management for cancer prevention on the basis of the most comprehensive collection of available evidence.

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether concordance with the WCRF/AICR recommendations was related to cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Design: The present study included 386,355 EPIC participants from 9 European countries.

Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of gastric adenocarcinoma: a reanalysis of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-EURGAST) study after a longer follow-up.

In a previous European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC) analysis, we found an inverse association between total intake of vegetables, onion and garlic, and risk of intestinal gastric cancer (GC) and between citrus fruit and risk of cardia GC. The aim of this study is to reanalyze the effect of fruit and vegetables (F&V), based on a longer follow-up and twice the number of GC cases. Subjects are 477,312 men and women mostly aged 35 to 70 years participating in the EPIC cohort, including 683 gastric adenocarcinomas with 11 years of follow-up.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and prospective weight change in participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Physical Activity, Nutrition, Alcohol, Cessation of Smoking, Eating Out of Home, and Obesity study.

Background: Fruit and vegetable consumption might prevent weight gain through their low energy density and high dietary fiber content.

Objective: We assessed the association between the baseline consumption of fruit and vegetables and weight change in participants from 10 European countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

Design: Diet was assessed at baseline in 373,803 participants by using country-specific validated questionnaires.

Red meat, dietary nitrosamines, and heme iron and risk of bladder cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Background: Previous epidemiologic studies found inconsistent results for the association between red meat intake, nitrosamines [NDMA: N-nitrosodimethylamine, and ENOC (endogenous nitroso compounds)], and the risk of bladder cancer. We investigated the association between red meat consumption, dietary nitrosamines, and heme iron and the risk of bladder cancer among participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Methods: Data on food consumption and complete follow-up for cancer occurrence were available for a total of 481,419 participants, recruited in 10 European countries.

Data quality and practical challenges of thyroid volume assessment by ultrasound under field conditions - observer errors may affect prevalence estimates of goitre.

Background: The ultrasonographic estimation of thyroid size has been advocated as being more precise than palpation to diagnose goitre. However, ultrasound also requires technical proficiency. This study was conducted among Saharawi refugees, where goitre is highly prevalent.