Grant: Fellowship - Priority Announcement: Aging

Chronic diseases are the predominant drivers of the healthcare crisis. With Canada's ever-aging population - projected to increase from 18% to 23% of adults 65 years or older between 2020 and 2030 - the corresponding surge in chronic diseases will threaten the sustainability of public healthcare. Prioritizing healthy lifestyle behaviours for chronic disease prevention and management is a widely acknowledged strategy, with nutrition as a major cornerstone. However, the impact of different dietary protein sources on population health remains inadequately defined, particularly among certain demographic groups. To address this research gap, we will examine dietary trends of different protein sources and explore the association of animal and plant protein sources and chronic disease morality with subgroup analyses that consider sex, age, and ethnicity. This research will be done using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) a program of nationally representative surveys of the civilian US population. Population-based surveys are valuable resources for population health and provide a detailed and representative picture of not only what people are eating but also the impact this has on their health and chronic disease risk. Recently, all 11 NHANES surveys from 1988-2018 have been harmonized totaling 134,310 participants (Nguyen VK. et al., 2023). By undertaking a comprehensive research program using a novel statistical method and this new harmonized dataset, we will be able to assess dietary trends of protein intake over 30 years and explore the role of protein sources on chronic disease outcomes and assess possible differences among sex, age, and ethnicities. Understanding dietary protein sources and potential differences among different demographic groups will contribute to the development of targeted chronic disease prevention strategies and public health policies in Canada while also informing the design of future randomized controlled trials.