J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012 Oct;60(10):1881-8.
Adherence to mediterranean diet and decline in walking speed over 8 years in community-dwelling older adults.
Shahar DR, Houston DK, Hue TF, Lee JS, Sahyoun NR, Tylavsky FA, Geva D, Vardi H, Harris TB.
Source
S. Daniel International Center for Health and Nutrition, Department of
Epidemiology and Health Evaluation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev, Negev, Israel. dshahar@bgu.ac.il
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
To determine the association between Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) score and 20-m
walking speed over 8 years.
DESIGN:
Health, Aging and Body Composition Study (Health ABC) beginning in 1997/98.
SETTING:
Community.
PARTICIPANTS:
Two thousand two hundred twenty-five well-functioning individuals aged 70 and
older.
MEASUREMENTS:
Walking speed was assessed in relation to low, medium, and high adherence to the
MedDiet (0-2, 3-5, 6-9 points, respectively).
RESULTS:
Individuals in the highest MedDiet adherence group were more likely to be male;
less likely to smoke; and more likely to have lower body mass index, higher
energy intake, and greater physical activity (P < .05). Usual and rapid 20-m
walking speed were highest in the high MedDiet adherence group than in the other
groups (high, 1.19 ± 0.19 m/s; medium, 1.16 ± 0.21 m/s; low, 1.15 ± 0.19 m/s, P
= .02, for usual speed; high, 1.65 ±0.30 m/s; medium, 1.59 ± 0.32 m/s; low, 1.55
± 0.30 m/s, P = .001, for rapid speed). Over 8 years, usual and rapid 20-m
walking speed declined in all MedDiet adherence groups. Higher MedDiet adherence
was an independent predictor of less decline in usual 20-m walking speed (P =
.049) in generalized estimating equations adjusted for age, race, sex, site,
education, smoking, physical activity, energy intake, health status, depression
and cognitive score. The effect decreased after adding total body fat percentage
to the model (P = .13). Similar results were observed for MedDiet adherence and
rapid 20-m walking speed; the association remained significant after adjustment
for total body fat percentage (P = .01). The interaction between time and
MedDiet adherence was not significant in any of the models.
CONCLUSION:
Walking speed over 8 years was faster in those with higher MedDiet adherence at
baseline. The differences remained significant over 8 years, suggesting a
long-term effect of diet on mobility performance with aging.
© 2012, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2012, The American
Geriatrics Society.
PMID: 23035758 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PMCID: PMC3470771