Dietary Patterns and Common Diseases in Chinese Elderly: Exploring Associations and Providing Guidance for Personalized Interventions

Abstract

Background: Specific dietary patterns significantly ameliorate or worsen the risk of certain diseases. However, the relationship between multiple geriatric diseases and dietary patterns remains unclear and the dietary patterns in the current literature may not apply to the Chinese elderly population. This study sought to analyze the major dietary patterns of the Chinese elderly in a large sample population and explore the association between these dietary patterns and 16 prevalent diseases to guide dietary interventions for geriatric populations. Methods: CLHLS 2018 were analyzed in the present study. 13 types of food and 16 common diseases were extracted from the CLHLS database. Principal component analysis was employed to identify the main dietary patterns of the Chinese elderly, and binary logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations between these dietary patterns and the 16 common diseases. Results: Four main dietary patterns were identified in the Chinese elderly population: Egg-Milk Pattern, Salt-preserved vegetable-Nut Pattern, Vegetable-Fruit Pattern, and Fish-Meat Pattern. Higher scores for the Egg-Milk Pattern were associated with a greater risk of heart disease, stroke or cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, glaucoma, prostate tumor, and Parkinson's disease in older adults (p<0.05). Higher scores for Salt-preserved vegetable-Nut Pattern correlated with a greater risk of hypertension, heart disease, and uterine tumors and a lower risk of rheumatism or rheumatoid disease in older adults (P<0.05). The higher scores of the Vegetable-Fruit Pattern were associated with a lower risk of heart disease in older adults (p<0.05). Finally, higher scores of the Fish-Meat Pattern correlated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease and a greater risk of rheumatic or rheumatoid disease in older adults (p<0.05). Conclusions: Much heterogeneity surrounds the recommended dietary patterns for common diseases in elderly patients. A Salt-preserved vegetable-nut pattern is recommended for rheumatic diseases, while vegetable-fruit and fish-meat patterns are recommended for heart disease. Patients with stroke or cardiovascular disease are recommended to adopt the fish-meat pattern. However, the same dietary pattern may have contrasting effects on different diseases. Therefore, dietary guidance for elderly individuals should be personalized based on their specific health conditions. Accurate and tailored recommendations are crucial for promoting optimal health outcomes.