Diet, biomarkers and non-communicable diseases in rural and urban China: federated analysis of population-based studies

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Diet (i.e. intake of specific foods, nutrients, and overall dietary patterns) plays an important role in the development and progression of NCDs, which is the leading cause of early death and disability. However, the majority of the previous studies were conducted in high-income Western countries, with limited information available from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as China, where nearly three-quarters of NCDs occur. This lack of robust information makes it difficult to formulate evidence-based dietary guidelines for NCD prevention in these countries. More importantly, associations observed only in a specific population (or few similar populations) may not be the true effect of diet, but due to the impact of other factors which are closely related to dietary habits, e.g. socio-demographic factors or other lifestyle factors (e.g. physical activity). Therefore, studying the association between diet and NCDs in LMICs has become very important because populations in these countries, compared to those living in Western countries, have very distinct dietary and disease patterns and the correlations between dietary factors and socio-demographic factors are also very different. Moreover, the exact biological mechanisms through which diet exert its effect on NCD incidence and progression is largely unknown. A better understanding of such mechanisms will greatly enhance our capacity to effectively prevent and treat these diseases. In this proposal, we plan to bring together several large population based studies which in total involves > 1 million Chinese adults for whom information on dietary habits, biomarkers which are closely related to metabolism status of the body, and incidence of NCDs is available, together with long-term stored bio-samples. Joint analyses of existing as well as newly generated omics (i.e. MS-Metabolomics and Metagenomics) data will be performed in order to have a comprehensive robust assessment of diet and NCD association as well as potential underlying mechanisms.