British Journal of Nutrition

Table of Contents - 14 August 2012 - Volume 108, Issue 03  

Systematic Review with Meta-analysis

Association of fish and n-3 fatty acid intake with the risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of prospective studies

Yunping Zhoua1, Changwei Tiana1 and Chongqi Jiaa1 c1

a1 Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China

Abstract

Results from observational studies on the association of fish and n-3 fatty acid consumption with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk are conflicting. Hence, a meta-analysis was performed to investigate this association from cohort studies. A comprehensive search was then conducted to identify cohort studies on the association of fish and/or n-3 fatty acid intake with T2DM risk. In the highest v. lowest categorical analyses, the fixed or random-effect model was selected based on the homogeneity test among studies. Linear and non-linear dose–response relationships were also assessed by univariate and bivariate random-effect meta-regression with restricted maximum likelihood estimation. In the highest v. lowest categorical analyses, the pooled relative risk (RR) of T2DM for intake of fish and n-3 fatty acid was 1·146 (95 % CI 0·975, 1·346) and 1·076 (95 % CI 0·955, 1·213), respectively. In the linear dose–response relationship, the pooled RR for an increment of one time (about 105 g)/week of fish intake (four times/month) and of 0·1 g/d of n-3 fatty acid intake was 1·042 (95 % CI 1·026, 1·058) and 1·057 (95 % CI 1·042, 1·073), respectively. The significant non-linear dose–response associations of fish and n-3 fatty acid intake with T2DM risk were not observed. The present evidence from observational studies suggests that the intake of both fish and n-3 fatty acids might be weakly positively associated with the T2DM risk. Further studies are needed to confirm these results.

(Received August 16 2011)

(Revised March 08 2012)

(Accepted April 23 2012)

(Online publication July 04 2012)

Key Words:

Correspondence:

c1 Corresponding author: C. Jia, email jiachongqi@sdu.edu.cn

Footnotes

Abbreviations: REML, restricted maximum likelihood; RR, relative risk; SFFQ, semiquantitative FFQ; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus