Publications by authors named "Voortman T"
Background & Aims: Transitioning to more plant-based diets promotes environmental sustainability and has health benefits for adults. However, associations with nutrient intake adequacy and growth in children remain unknown. This study aimed to examine associations of plant-based diets with nutrient intake levels among children, and with longitudinal growth and body composition up to adolescence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/objective: There is limited knowledge on how diet affects the epigenome of children. Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption is emerging as an important factor impacting health, but mechanisms need to be uncovered. We therefore aimed to assess the association between UPF consumption and DNA methylation in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study investigated the long-term impact of the primary school-based multicomponent lifestyle intervention "Lekker Fit!" (LF) on obesity-related outcomes, and studied whether the impact differed between population subgroups.
Methods: Children from the Generation R Study (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) were categorized into the LF group (6 years exposure, between the ages 6/7 to 12/13 years) or regular school group (no exposure). BMI and DXA-derived fat mass were assessed after 4 years of intervention (age 10 years), and 1.
Studies investigating the potential health effects of floor of residence have reported conflicting results. In the Rotterdam Study, we examined associations between floor and mortality among elderly residents of a neighborhood of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Participants who were high-rise residents at baseline (n = 2330) were followed for 10 years, until loss to follow-up or death (N = 602).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) affects up to one-third of the global population. Since no approved pharmacotherapy for MAFLD is available, lifestyle modification remains the cornerstone of clinical care. Our study aims to evaluate the association of an overall healthy lifestyle with MAFLD risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Evidence suggests that high levels of air pollution and less green space increase depressive symptoms in adults. However, results are mixed and cross-cohort comparisons are scarce, largely due to heterogeneity in exposure assessment. Also, the impact of these exposures on the trajectory of depressive symptoms over time has been less studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Diet quality during pregnancy may affect offspring's neurobiology and cognitive performance in childhood. However, little is known about underlying mechanisms and potential long-term effects.
Objectives: To examine associations of diet quality during pregnancy with offspring pre- and early-adolescent brain morphology and to investigate whether brain morphology mediates associations of diet quality during pregnancy with full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) in early adolescence.
Article Synopsis
- This study investigates the link between an epigenetic risk score (ERS) related to alcohol consumption and blood pressure traits, finding significant associations between higher ERS and increased blood pressure levels among participants.
- In the analysis of 3,898 individuals from the Framingham Heart Study, each unit increase in the ERS correlated with a rise in systolic blood pressure (SBP) by almost 2 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) by about 0.68 mm Hg.
- The research suggests that the ERS could serve as a useful tool for assessing cardiovascular risks linked to alcohol consumption, especially in cases where self-reported data may be unreliable.
Article Synopsis
- A study was conducted to examine the link between plant-based diet indices and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among 8,852 participants from the Rotterdam Study.
- Results indicated that men consuming more healthy plant-based foods had a 7-8% lower risk of CVD, while women showed a complex, U-shaped relationship between plant-based diets and stroke risk.
- An updated meta-analysis reinforced these findings, showing that healthy plant-based diets lower CVD risk, while unhealthy plant-based diets increase it, suggesting that focusing on healthy options is important for heart health.
Background: Air pollution is a well-established risk factor for several adverse health outcomes, but the specific molecular mechanisms, particularly those involving metabolic processes, remain incompletely understood.
Objective: To evaluate associations between long-term air pollutant exposure and circulating plasma metabolites in two sub-cohorts of the population-based Rotterdam Study.
Methods: We analyzed data from 1455 participants of sub-cohort I (mean age 76.
Background: Targeting effective strategies to prevent cognitive decline is key in the aging population. Some diets have been linked to a slower cognitive decline, potentially through reducing inflammation. We aimed at determining the effect of inflammatory dietary patterns (IDPs) on cognitive function in three population-based cohorts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) have been linked to increased risks of all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality based on a comprehensive review of 11 studies involving over 2 million participants.
- The analysis showed that higher ASB intake correlated with 13% and 26% higher risks for all-cause and CVD mortality, respectively; however, there was no significant link found with cancer mortality.
- Replacing one sugary drink with ASB may reduce the risk of mortality by 4-6%, but the overall quality of evidence concerning ASB’s health effects was rated as moderate.
Biological age uses biophysiological information to capture a person's age-related risk of adverse outcomes. MetaboAge and MetaboHealth are metabolomics-based biomarkers of biological age trained on chronological age and mortality risk, respectively. Lifestyle factors contribute to the extent chronological and biological age differ.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrimethylamine -oxide (TMAO) is a circulating microbiome-derived metabolite implicated in the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We investigated whether plasma levels of TMAO, its precursors (betaine, carnitine, deoxycarnitine, choline), and TMAO-to-precursor ratios are associated with clinical outcomes, including CVD and mortality. This was followed by an in-depth analysis of their genetic, gut microbial, and dietary determinants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: Individual beverages have varying associations with cardiometabolic outcomes, but little is known about overall beverage quality and cardiometabolic risk after myocardial infarction (MI). We created the Beverage Quality Index (BQI) to assess beverage quality and examined its association with cardiometabolic outcomes after MI.
Methods And Results: We included 4365 Dutch post-MI patients from the Alpha Omega Cohort, aged 60-80 years.
Objective: To examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of various types of dietary patterns with self-reported sleep quality and with actigraphy-estimated sleep parameters in the prospective, population-based Rotterdam Study.
Methods: For each participant, scores for five different dietary patterns were derived based on food frequency questionnaires; two pre-defined scores developed to estimate adherence to the Dutch dietary guidelines and to the Mediterranean diet; and three data-driven scores indicating a prudent, unhealthy and typical Dutch diet. In 2589 participants (median age 56.
Article Synopsis
- Scientists studied how drinking alcohol affects our DNA and blood pressure.
- They found that for each drink a person consumes daily, blood pressure increases a bit and they are more likely to develop high blood pressure.
- However, over time, drinking habits didn't seem to change blood pressure levels, showing that tracking alcohol effects can help understand health.
Importance: It has been demonstrated that total physical activity is not associated with risk of osteoarthritis. However, the association of different types of physical activity with incident knee osteoarthritis remains unclear.
Objective: To determine whether weight-bearing recreational physical activities are associated with increased risk of incident knee osteoarthritis.
Importance: Sarcopenia and obesity are 2 global concerns associated with adverse health outcomes in older people. Evidence on the population-based prevalence of the combination of sarcopenia with obesity (sarcopenic obesity [SO]) and its association with mortality are still limited.
Objective: To investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and SO and their association with all-cause mortality.
Article Synopsis
- Scientists studied how drinking alcohol affects our health by looking at changes in our DNA caused by alcohol, called DNA methylation.
- They created a special score to measure the effects of alcohol on people's health using data from nearly 4,000 people.
- They found that higher alcohol consumption was linked to increased blood pressure, but it didn't change over time or cause long-term issues with high blood pressure.
Purpose: We examined the relation between diet quality, its components and kidney function decline in post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients, and we explored differences by genetic risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Methods: We analysed 2169 patients from the Alpha Omega Cohort (aged 60-80 years, 81% male). Dietary intake was assessed at baseline (2002-2006) using a validated food-frequency questionnaire and diet quality was defined using the Dutch Healthy Diet Cardiovascular Disease (DHD-CVD) index.
Article Synopsis
- The Rotterdam Study, initiated in 1990, aims to examine the prevalence and causes of multifactorial diseases in adults aged 40 and older in Rotterdam, involving 17,931 participants.
- Participants are regularly examined every 3 to 5 years and their health data is continuously monitored through automated links with healthcare providers.
- The research covers both specific diseases linked to medical specializations and interdisciplinary lines, with the paper discussing recent updates, key findings, and future research directions.
Background: Cardiovascular risk burden is associated with dementia risk and neurodegeneration-related brain structure, while the role of genetics and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear.
Aims: To examine the association of overall cardiovascular risk burden with the risk of major dementia subtypes and volumes of related brain regions in a large sample, and to explore the role of genetics and CVD onset.
Methods: A prospective study among 354 654 participants free of CVD and dementia (2006-2010, mean age 56.
Article Synopsis
- Higher body mass in older adults is linked to a lower risk of dementia, possibly due to lean mass loss or methodological factors related to dementia's long preclinical phase.
- The Rotterdam Study measured body composition and specific plasma markers in 3,408 dementia-free participants to explore these associations.
- Results indicated that while whole body and fat mass correlated positively with total-tau, all body composition measures, except for lean mass's link to amyloid-β40, showed inverse relationships with neurofilament light chain (NfL).