NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults who follow dietary
guidelines tend to have a better quality of life and less
trouble getting around and taking care of themselves, according
to a new study.
Not many prior studies had tried to tackle that issue,
"Our paper showed that maintaining an overall optimal diet
quality will be beneficial for preserving the general well-being
of older adults," lead author Bamini Gopinath told Reuters
Health in an email.
Gopinath is a senior research fellow with the Westmead
Millennium Institute for Medical Research at the University of
Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
"Adhering to national dietary guidelines which is typified
by high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish
could be beneficial in maintaining a good quality of life and
functional ability such as shopping, household duties, meal
preparation, and taking their own medication," she said.
Her study included 1,305 men and women age 55 and over that
were part of a large Australian study of common eye diseases and
Participants filled out questionnaires about what they ate
and how often in 1992 to 1994. Researchers scored each person's
diet on a scale from 0 to 20 based the Australian Guide to
Healthy Eating. Higher scores indicated better diets.
The one-quarter of participants with the highest-quality
diets had scores above 11.1. The one-quarter with the poorest
diets scored 8.1 and below, the researchers reported in the
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Five and ten years after reporting on their diets,
participants completed surveys assessing their quality of life
with regard to physical health, mental health, social
functioning and vitality. Each area was measured on a scale of 0
On average, participants with the highest diet scores also
reported a better quality of life.
Physical function was almost six points higher among the
healthiest eaters than the least healthy. General health was
four points higher among healthy eaters and vitality was five
However, there were no differences on measures of mental
health or social functioning, based on diet.
The researchers also assessed how well people could perform
basic and instrumental activities of daily living 10 and 15
years after the diet surveys.
Basic activities include being able to eat, dress and groom
without assistance and the ability to walk alone. Instrumental
activities include the ability to go shopping, use a telephone,
handle money and travel beyond walking distance.
There was no difference in how well people performed basic
activities of daily living based on their diets. But
participants with the highest diet scores were half as likely to
be impaired when it came to instrumental activities compared to
those with the worst diets.
The findings don't prove diet, itself, was responsible for
the differences in quality of life and how well people performed
But Gopinath believes they could contribute to the evidence
needed to come up with strategies that help an aging population
make dietary changes.
"If older adults didn't make healthy choices when they were
younger, they may need to change their habits to get the
necessary nutrients for a better quality of life. In fact, many
older adults are coming up short, when it comes to essential
vitamins, minerals, and fiber," Ruth Frechman told Reuters
Health in an email.
She is a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and was not involved in the
Frechman said people can turn to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's MyPlate guide (http://1.usa.gov/lKcC1z) for help
with healthy eating.
"To reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, half of the
grains should be whole grains, such as whole grain pasta, brown
rice or oatmeal. It's also important to include low-fat or
fat-free sources of dairy for healthy bones," she added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1aJ1cN6 Journal of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics, online November 18, 2013.
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