Environment-wide association study (EWAS) on cardiometabolic traits: A systematic assessment of the association of lifestyle variables on a longitudinal setting

Abstract The present study aims to assess the over-time association of ∼300 lifestyle exposures with nine cardiometabolic traits with the ultimate aim of identifying exposures/exposure groups that could inform lifestyle interventions aiming at controlling cardiometabolic diseases. The analyses were undertaken in a longitudinal sample comprising >31000 adults living in northern Sweden. Linear mixed models were used to assess the average associations of lifestyle exposures and linear regression models were used to test association with 10-year change of the cardiometabolic traits. ‘Physical activity’ and ‘General Health’ were the exposure categories containing the highest number of ‘tentative signals’ in analyses assessing the average association of lifestyle variables, while ‘Tobacco use’ was the top-category for the 10-year change association analyses. Thirteen modifiable variables showed a consistent average association among the majority of cardiometabolic traits. These variables belonged to four main groups: i) Smoking, ii) Diet (secoisolariciresinol intake and brewed coffee), iii) Leisure time physical activity and iv) a group of variables more specific to the Swedish lifestyle (snuff status, hunting/fishing during leisure time and boiled coffee). Interestingly, sweet drinks, fish intake and salt content, all lifestyle exposures frequently mentioned in public health recommendations were not broadly associated with the analysed cardiometabolic traits.