Association between an individual dietary index based on the British Food Standard Agency Nutrient Profiling System and asthma symptoms.

The role of diet in asthma is still debated. In France, a front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition label based on a modified Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System/High Council for Public Health (FSAm-NPS/HCSP) has recently been implemented to help consumers to make healthier food choices during purchase. At the individual level, the FSAm-NPS dietary index (DI) has been shown to reflect the nutritional quality of the diet. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the FSAm-NPS DI and the asthma symptom score. In total, 34 323 participants (25 823 women and 8500 men) from the NutriNet-Santé cohort were included. The overall nutritional quality of the diet was assessed using the FSAm-NPS DI. Increasing FSAm-NPS DI reflects decreasing overall diet quality. Asthma was defined by the asthma symptom score (sum of five questions). Negative binomial regression was used to evaluate the association between the FSA-NPS DI and the asthma symptom score. Overall, mean participant's age was 54 ± 14 years, and about 27 % reported at least one asthma symptom. We observed a significant positive association between less healthy diet, as expressed by higher FSAm-NPS DI, and the asthma symptom score. The adjusted OR were 1·27 (95 % CI 1·17, 1·38) among women and 1·31 (95 % CI 1·13, 1·53) among men. Unhealthy food choices, as reflected by a higher FSAm-NPS DI, were associated with greater asthma symptoms. These results reinforce the relevance of public health approach to orient consumers towards healthier food choices by using a clear and easy-to-understand FOP nutrition label based on the FSAm-NPS, such as the Nutri-Score.

Prospective association between cancer risk and an individual dietary index based on the British Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System.

The Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System (FSA-NPS) constitutes the basis for the Five-Colour Nutrition Label suggested in France to be put on the front-of-pack of food products. At the individual level, a dietary index (FSA-NPS DI) has been derived and validated and corresponds to a weighted mean of all FSA-NPS scores of foods usually consumed by the individual, reflecting the nutritional quality of his/her diet. Our aim was to investigate the association between the FSA-NPS DI and cancer risk in a large cohort. This prospective study included 6435 participants to the SUpplémentation en VItamines et Minéraux AntioXydants cohort (1994-2007) who completed at least six 24 h dietary records during the first 2 years of follow-up. FSA-NPS DI was computed for each subject (higher values representing lower nutritional quality of the diet). After a median follow-up of 12·6 years, 453 incident cancers were diagnosed. Associations were characterised by multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. The FSA-NPS DI was directly associated with overall cancer risk (hazard ratio (HR)for a 1-point increment=1·08 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·15), P trend=0·02; HRQ5 v. Q1=1·34 (95 % CI 1·00, 1·81), P trend=0·03). This association tended to be more specifically observed in subjects with moderate energy intake (≤median, HRfor a 1-point increment=1·10 (95 % CI 1·01-1·20), P trend=0·03). No association was observed in subjects with higher energy intake (P trend=0·3). Results were not statistically significant for breast and prostate cancer risks. For the first time, this study investigated the prospective association between the FSA-NPS individual score and cancer risk. The results suggest that unhealthy food choices may be associated with a 34 % increase in overall cancer risk, supporting the public health relevance of developing front-of-pack nutrition labels based on this score.