Dietary patterns and weight change in older adults ≥ 75 years old: What's the relationship?

Abstract

Weight change is a common health concern among the elderly, yet little is known about the relationship between weight change and dietary patterns (DP) in older adults, especially the very old (≥ 75 y). This investigation examined the association between DP and 5‐ year weight change in community‐dwelling older adults (n=270; mean ± SD age: 78.6±3.9 y) of the Geisinger Rural Aging Study, a longitudinal cohort study. Using baseline 24‐hour dietary recall data, cluster analysis was used to derive ‘Sweets and dairy’ (SD), ‘Western’ (W) and ‘Health‐conscious’ (HC) DP. Weight change data was extracted from electronic medical records and was characterized using three methods: 1) overall 5‐y weight change, 2) 10 pounds gained or lost (y/n) and 3) 10% gained or lost (y/n). Kaplan‐Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to examine the association between DP and weight change. Mean overall weight change was not significantly different across DP: −5.56 (all), −7.2, −4.8 and −3.3 pounds for the SD, the W, and the HC DP, respectively (p=0.17). In gender‐stratified analyses, compared to the HC DP, females characterized by the SD and W DP, were three and two times more likely to lose 10 pounds (Hazard ratio (95% CI): SD=3.2 (1.5–6.7); W=2.4 (1.1–5.6)), respectively. Findings suggest that a HC DP may be associated with weight stability in females, which provides additional impetus for promoting healthy DP in older women.Grant Funding Source: USDA #1950–51530‐010–02G