Fruit, vegetable and vitamin C intakes and plasma vitamin C: cross-sectional associations with insulin resistance and glycaemia in 9-10 year-old children

Donin, A.S. et al. (2016) Fruit, vegetable and vitamin C intakes and plasma vitamin C: cross-sectional associations with insulin resistance and glycaemia in 9-10 year-old children. Diabetic Medicine, 33(3), pp. 307-315. (doi: 10.1111/dme.13006) (PMID:26498636) (PMCID:PMC4832256)

Abstract

Aim: To examine whether low circulating vitamin C concentrations and low fruit and vegetable intakes were associated with insulin resistance and other Type 2 diabetes risk markers in childhood. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, school-based study in 2025 UK children aged 9–10 years, predominantly of white European, South-Asian and black African origin. A 24-h dietary recall was used to assess fruit, vegetable and vitamin C intakes. Height, weight and fat mass were measured and a fasting blood sample collected to measure plasma vitamin C concentrations and Type 2 diabetes risk markers. Results: In analyses adjusting for confounding variables (including socio-economic status), a one interquartile range higher plasma vitamin C concentration (30.9 μmol/l) was associated with a 9.6% (95% CI 6.5, 12.6%) lower homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance value, 0.8% (95% CI 0.4, 1.2%) lower fasting glucose, 4.5% (95% CI 3.2, 5.9%) lower urate and 2.2% (95% CI 0.9, 3.4%) higher HDL cholesterol. HbA1c concentration was 0.6% (95% CI 0.2, 1.0%) higher. Dietary fruit, vegetable and total vitamin C intakes were not associated with any Type 2 diabetes risk markers. Lower plasma vitamin C concentrations in South-Asian and black African-Caribbean children could partly explain their higher insulin resistance. Conclusions: Lower plasma vitamin C concentrations are associated with insulin resistance and could partly explain ethnic differences in insulin resistance. Experimental studies are needed to establish whether increasing plasma vitamin C can help prevent Type 2 diabetes at an early stage.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funded by Diabetes UK. Grant Number: 11/0004317 BUPA Foundation Wellcome Trust. Grant Number: 068362/Z/02/Z National Prevention Research Initiative. Grant Number: G0501295 British Heart Foundation Cancer Research UK Economic and Social Research Council Department of Health Medical Research Council Research and Development Office for the Northern Ireland Health and Social Services Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Executive Health Department Welsh Assembly Government NIHR CLAHRC South London.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sattar, Professor Naveed
• Authors: Donin, A.S., Dent, J.E., Nightingale, C.M., Sattar, N., Owen, C.G., Rudnicka, A.R., Perkin, M.R., Stephen, A.M., Jebb, S.A., Cook, D.G., and Whincup, P.H.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
• Journal Name: Diabetic Medicine
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Diabetes UK
• ISSN: 0742-3071
• ISSN (Online): 1464-5491
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Diabetic Medicine 33(3):307-315
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a creative commons license