Abstract
Previous studies showed that better adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) is associated with lower risk of chronic diseases, but limited data are available on bone health. We investigated the association of the MD with bone mineral density (BMD) in Chinese adults. We included 2371 participants aged 40–75 years in this community-based cross-sectional study. Dietary information was assessed at baseline and a 3-year follow-up. Alternate Mediterranean diet (aMed) scores were calculated. BMD was determined at the second survey. After adjusting for potential covariates, higher aMed scores were positively and dose-dependently associated with BMD (all P-trends < 0.05). The BMD values were 1.94% (whole body), 3.01% (lumbar spine), 2.80% (total hip), 2.81% (femur neck), 2.62% (trochanter), and 2.85% (intertrochanter) higher in the quintile 5 (highest, vs. quintile 1) aMed scores for all of the subjects (all P-values < 0.05). Similar associations were found after stratifying by gender (P-interaction = 0.338–0.968). After excluding the five non-significant components of vegetables, legumes, fish, monounsaturated to saturated fat ratio, and alcohol intake from the aMed scores, the percentage mean differences were substantially increased by 69.1–150% between the extreme quintiles. In conclusion, increased adherence to the MD shows protective associations with BMD in Chinese adults.
Highlights
Osteoporosis and relative fractures, characterized by low bone mass, present great economic and health challenges worldwide[1]
As the alternate Mediterranean diet (aMed) scores increased from quintiles 1 to 5, the subjects tended to have higher household incomes; be more educated; aMed Score Men N = 693 BMDa, g/cm[2] Whole body Lumbar Spine L1-4 Total Hip Femur neck Trochanter Intertrochanter Ward’s triangle Women N = 1678 BMDa, g/cm[2] Whole body Lumbar Spine L1-4 Total Hip Femur neck Trochanter Intertrochanter Ward’s triangle quintiles of diet-quality scores
Our findings suggested that the aMed scale is a useful index for assessing appropriate diet quality for bone mineral density (BMD)
Summary
Osteoporosis and relative fractures, characterized by low bone mass, present great economic and health challenges worldwide[1]. Many studies have shown that adherence to the MD is associated with a lower risk of many chronic diseases (e.g., coronary heart disease[6], stroke[6], cognitive disorders[7] and some cancers8–10) in populations worldwide. These results have suggested that the MD may be beneficial in preventing a variety of chronic diseases. Studies that focus on BMD are valuable and urgently required The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association of the MD (assessed via aMed scores) with BMD at the whole body, lumbar spine, and hip sites in middle-aged and elderly Chinese
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
