Daan Kromhout

Daan Kromhout

Second generation principal investigator of the Zutphen Study

Daan Kromhout (1950) retooled the nutritional studies of the Seven Countries Study when he was named Principal Investigator of the Zutphen Study by the Dutch authorities in 1978. He assumed together with Alessandro Menotti the central direction of follow up and data analysis of the Seven Countries Study following publication by Keys and colleagues of the ten-year study monograph in 1980.

In 1985 he initiated the Zutphen Elderly Study in which the traditional cardiovascular survey was extended as a prospective study of healthy aging. Together with Aulikki Nissinen and Alessandro Menotti he coordinated the Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Elderly (FINE) Study. He became in 2001 the project leader of the HALE (Healthy aging Longitudinal study in Europe) project.

The Zutphen Study dietary surveys were unique for the Seven Countries Study as the diet was seven times investigated from baseline to 40 years follow-up. In 1985 the Zutphen Study showed an association of a small amount of fish consumption with a low rate of fatal coronary heart disease. In the period 1993-2006 the intake of flavonoids, especially flavanols, present in tea and cocoa, was associated with a lower risk of fatal cardiovascular events. These results formed the basis for randomized controlled dietary trials on omega-3 fatty acids and flavonoids especially flavanols.

The Zutphen Study hosted two major conferences of the principal investigators on Seven Countries Study findings in 1990 and 2002. Read more about the Dutch cohort in Zutphen.

Kromhout received a MSc (in 1974) and a PhD (in 1978) in human nutrition from Wageningen University, and a MPH in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota in 1981. He was Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology of University of Leiden from 1984-1994 and Professor of Public Health Research of Wageningen University from 1994-2015. He was Vice- President of the Health Council of The Netherlands from 2005-2015 and Academy Professor of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences from 2010-2016. At his farewell from Wageningen he became knight in the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands in 2015 and Honorary Member of the Health Council of the Netherlands. Since 2015 is Daan Kromhout Professor of Diet, Lifestyle and Healthy Aging at University Medical Center Groningen.

Read more about Daan Kromhout at www.professordaankromhout.nl