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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sian RobinsonORCiD, Professor Rachel CooperORCiD, Professor Avan SayerORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. Background Current evidence that links "healthier" dietary patterns to better measured physical performance is mainly from older populations; little is known about the role of earlier diet. We examined adult diet quality in relation to physical performance at age 60-64 years. Methods Diet quality was defined using principal component analysis of dietary data collected at age 36, 43, 53, and 60-64. Throughout adulthood, diets of higher quality were characterized by higher consumption of fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain bread. Diet quality scores calculated at each age indicated compliance with this pattern. Physical performance was assessed using chair rise, timed-up-and-go, and standing balance tests at age 60-64. The analysis sample included 969 men and women. Results In gender-adjusted analyses, higher diet quality at each age was associated with better measured physical performance (all p <.01 for each test), although some associations were attenuated after adjustment for covariates. Diet quality scores were highly correlated in adulthood (0.44 ≤ r ≤ 0.67). However, conditional models showed that higher diet quality at age 60-64 (than expected from scores at younger ages), was associated with faster chair rise speed and with longer standing balance time (adjusted: 0.08 [95% CI: 0.02, 0.15] and 0.07 [0.01, 0.14] SD increase in chair rise speed and balance time, respectively, per SD increase in conditional diet quality; both p <.05). Conclusions Higher diet quality across adulthood is associated with better physical performance in older age. Current diet quality may be particularly important for physical performance, suggesting potential for improvements in diet in early older age.
Author(s): Robinson SM, Westbury LD, Cooper R, Kuh D, Ward K, Syddall HE, Sayer AA, Cooper C
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Year: 2018
Volume: 73
Issue: 11
Pages: 1532-1537
Print publication date: 01/11/2018
Online publication date: 13/10/2017
Acceptance date: 12/09/2017
Date deposited: 19/01/2022
ISSN (print): 1079-5006
ISSN (electronic): 1758-535X
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glx179
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glx179
PubMed id: 29040508
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