Association Between Healthful Plant-Based Dietary Pattern and Obesity Trajectories and Future Cardiovascular Diseases in Middle-Aged and Elderly: A Prospective and Longitudinal Cohort Study

We aimed to explore the association between plant-based dietary (PBD) patterns and obesity trajectories in middle-aged and elderly, as well as obesity trajectories linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. A total of 7108 middle-aged and elderly UK Biobank participants with at least three physical measurements were included. Dietary information collected at enrolment was used to calculate the healthful plant-based diet index (hPDI). Group-based trajectory modeling identified two trajectories for each adiposity measure: BMI Low-Smooth and High-Growth-Decline; FMI Low-Smooth and High-Growth-Decline; WHR Low-Growth and High-Growth. Logistic regression showed that participants in the medium and high hPDI groups were less likely to follow the BMI High-Growth-Decline (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.60–0.87; OR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.39–0.61), FMI High-Growth-Decline (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.60–0.84; OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.46–0.66), and WHR High-Growth (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.61–0.87; OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.43–0.63) trajectories. After a median follow-up time of 3.88 years, Cox regression showed higher CVD risk for participants in these trajectories (HR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.37–2.11; HR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.37–2.06; HR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.04–1.63). A healthy PBD pattern was associated with the maintenance of a healthy BMI classification. Furthermore, the long-term stabilization of a healthy BMI classification may be linked to a reduced risk of CVD.