Evaluation of dietary quality in relationship to nutritional and lifestyle factors in elderly people of the US Framingham Heart Study and the European SENECA study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate dietary quality of European and American elderly subjects using different derivatives of dietary patterns (dietary scores and clusters) and to investigate the relationship of these approaches to nutritional and lifestyle factors. Design: Data from the cross-sectional SENECA baseline study and Framingham Heart Study (original cohort and offspring) were used for data analysis. Food intake data were summarised into dietary clusters and into dietary scores (Healthy Diet Indicator and Mediterranean Diet Score). These measures of dietary quality were then tested for associations with lifestyle factors and measures of nutritional status. Subjects=Setting: The study population, aged 70 -77 y, consisted of 828 subjects from Framingham, MA (USA) and 1282 subjects from the following European centres: Hamme, Belgium; Roskilde, Denmark; Padua, Italy; Culemborg, The Netherlands; Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal; Betanzos, Spain; and Yverdon, Burgdorf and Bellinzona, Switzerland. Results: Dietary intake varied widely across the European and American research centres. In general, Southern European centres and Framingham had higher mean diet scores, indicating a higher dietary quality, than Northern European centres (MD-scores: 4.2 -4.4 vs 2.7 -3.5). Cluster analysis identified the following five dietary patterns characterised by: (1) sugar and sugar products; (2) fish and grain; (3) meat, eggs and fat; (4) milk and fruit; and (5) alcohol intake. The meat, eggs and fat pattern had significantly lower average dietary quality, as measured with all three diet scores than all other groups except the alcohol group. The fish and grain group had significantly better Mediterranean diet scores than all other groups. Conclusions: Dietary scores and dietary clusters are complementary measures to classify dietary quality. The associations with nutritional and lifestyle factors indicate the adequate categorisation into dietary quality groups.

Effect of zinc supplementation on vitamin status of middle-aged and older European adults: the ZENITH study

“…Evidence of inadequate dietary intakes of vitamin A, vitamin E and folates is lacking and the biochemical indicators suggest that the circulating levels of vitamins are in the cutoff point of normality. These findings are in disagreement with some literature data on similarly aged Europeans who have inadequate vitamin A and folate intake and limiting vitamin nutritional status (Euronut SENECA investigators, 1991;Maiani et al, 1992;Hallfrish et al, 1994;Haveman-Nies et al, 2001;Pirlich and Lochs, 2001;Ferry et al, 2005;Tur et al, 2005). In our study, no vitamin deficiencies are observed in all age groups, probably because of the specific selection criteria used for the enrollment of apparently healthy free-living volunteers (Table 1).…”

Correlates of regular fish consumption in French elderly community dwellers: data from the Three-City study

“…A high consumption of both fish and grain was characteristic for Southern centres participating to the European SENECA (Survey in Europe on Nutrition and the Elderly: a Concerted Action) study (Haveman-Nies et al, 2001). This dietary pattern was also associated with use of wine and high consumption of fruit but not vegetables.…”

“…Few studies have tried to characterize fish consumers in Western countries (Burger et al, 2002;Welch et al, 2002;Davey et al, 2003) and very few were based on representative samples of elderly community dwellers (Haveman-Nies et al, 2001). Fish consumption is generally considered among other dietary patterns (van Dam et al, 2003).…”

The Baltic Sea Diet Score: a tool for assessing healthy eating in Nordic countries

“…It intends to measure adherence to a predefined (healthy) diet (5) . Thus far, several dietary scores have been related to positive health outcomes (6)(7)(8) . Dietary scores have the advantage of taking into account the complex interactions and cumulative effects of multiple foods and nutrients within the diet; consequently the health-related effects may be larger and easier to detect.…”