We aimed to investigate the associations of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style diet and Mediterranean-style diet with blood pressure (BP) in less-developed ethnic minority regions (LEMR).

Cross-sectional study.

Dietary intakes were assessed by a validated FFQ. Dietary quality was assessed by the DASH-style diet score and the alternative Mediterranean-style diet (aMED) score. The association between dietary quality and BP was evaluated using multivariate linear regression model. We further examined those associations in subgroups of BP level.

A total of 81 433 adults from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) study were included in this study.

In the overall population, compared with the lowest quintile, the highest quintile of DASH-style diet score was negatively associated with systolic BP (SBP) (coefficient –2·78, 95 % CI –3·15, –2·41; Pfor trend < 0·001), while the highest quintile of aMED score had a weaker negative association with SBP (coefficient –1·43, 95 % CI –1·81, –1·05; Pfor trend < 0·001). Both dietary indices also showed a weaker effect on diastolic BP (coefficient for DASH-style diet –1·06, 95 % CI –1·30, –0·82; coefficient for aMED –0·43, 95 % CI –0·68, –0·19). In the subgroup analysis, both dietary indices showed a stronger beneficial effect on SBP in the hypertension group than in either of the other subgroups.

Our results indicated that the healthy diet originating from Western developed countries can also have beneficial effects on BP in LEMR. DASH-style diet may be a more appropriate recommendation than aMED as part of a dietary strategy to control BP, especially in hypertensive patients.