Milk and other dairy foods and risk of hip fracture in men and women.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether higher milk and dairy food consumption are associated with risk of hip fracture in older adults following a report of an increased risk for milk in Swedish women. In two US cohorts, 80,600 postmenopausal women and 43,306 men over 50years of age were followed for up to 32years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate the relative risks (RR) of hip fracture per daily serving of milk (240mL) and other dairy foods that were assessed every 4years, controlling for other dietary intakes, BMI, height, smoking, activity, medications, and disease diagnoses. Two thousand one hundred thirty-eight incident hip fractures were identified in women and 694 in men. Each serving of milk per day was associated with a significant 8% lower risk of hip fracture in men and women combined (RR=0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.87 to 0.97). A suggestive inverse association was found for cheese in women only (RR=0.91, CI 0.81 to 1.02). Yogurt consumption was low and not associated with risk. Total dairy food intake, of which milk contributed about half, was associated with a significant 6% lower risk of hip fracture per daily serving in men and women (RR=0.94, CI 0.90 to 0.98). Calcium, vitamin D, and protein from non-dairy sources did not modify the association between milk and hip fracture, nor was it explained by contributions of these nutrients from milk. In this group of older US adults, higher milk consumption was associated with a lower risk of hip fracture.