Relationships between the Intake of Milk fat Percentage and Cardio-metabolic Indices in Adult Men: Results from a Cross-sectional Study

Debates on the effects of milk fat on individuals' metabolic well-being and susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases have been a long-standing issue in scholarly investigations. In this study, a cross-sectional analysis was carried out to assess relationships of milk fat content with lipid and anthropometry in adult men.

This cross-sectional analysis included a sample of 1,805 men from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey NHANES 2015-2016 data. To identify associations between the milk fat content and outcome of lipid and anthropometric, three various regression models were used that adjusted for confounders.

Adult men, who consumed milk containing 3.25% fat, had a higher risk of high body mass index and circumference waist, compared to those consuming 0–1% fat, based on the fully adjusted model (OR: 1.49, CI: 1.18–1.89; and OR: 1.34, CI: 1.09–1.66, respectively). Furthermore, adult males, who consumed milk containing 3.25% fat, had lower odds of high TC levels and TC/HDL-C ratio (OR: 0.71, CI: 0.56–0.88 and OR: 0.70, CI: 0.54–0.89, respectively). The odds probability of having high LDL-C and non-HDL-C was lower only with the consumption of 2% fat milk, compared to 1% fat milk (OR: 0.57, CI: 0.36–0.89; and OR: 0.74, CI: 0.55–0.99, respectively).

This cross-sectional analysis showed upper odds of high BMI and waist circumference and lower odds of atherogenic lipids in adult men, who consumed whole fat milk, compared to those consuming non/low-fat milk.