Daily intake of one or less servings of fruit and vegetables linked to increased risk in older adults
WEDNESDAY, April 13, 2016 (HealthDay News) — For older adults, daily intake of no more than one serving of fruit and vegetables is associated with increased risk of hip fracture relative to moderate intake, according to a study published online April 8 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
Vassiliki Benetou, M.D., Ph.D., from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece, and colleagues examined the potential correlation between fruit and vegetable intake and hip fracture incidence in a sample of 142,018 individuals (116,509 women), aged 60 years or older from five cohorts. Participants were followed for 1,911,482 person-years and accumulated 5,552 hip fractures. Validated, cohort-specific, food-frequency questionnaires were used to assess fruit and vegetable intake.
The researchers found that, compared with moderate intake (more than three, and five or fewer servings/day), intake of no more than one serving/day of fruit and vegetables combined correlated with an increased hip fracture risk (pooled adjusted hazard ratio, 1.39). Compared with the same reference, higher intakes (more than five servings/per day) were not associated with lower risk. Stronger correlations were seen for women.
“A daily intake of one or less servings of fruits and vegetables was associated with increased hip fracture risk in relation to moderate daily intakes,” the authors write. “Older adults with such low fruit and vegetable consumption may benefit from raising their intakes to moderate amounts in order to reduce their hip fracture risk.”
The study was partially funded by the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council and the California Walnut Commission.
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