Mediterranean Diet Linked to Fewer Hip Fractures
Postmenopausal women who adhered to a Mediterranean diet for 16 years reported fewer hip fractures than women on other diets, according to a new study.
Previous evidence about how nutrients relate to bone health was inconsistent. Therefore, researchers set out to determine whether adhering to healthy diet patterns impacts the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women.
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To conduct their study, researchers collected longitudinal data from 93,676 women aged 50 to 79 years who were part of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) in the United States from October 1, 1993, to December 31, 1998.
Researchers administered a food frequency questionnaire at baseline to collect information on participants' nutrition and to separate participants into groups by adherence to 1 of 4 diets: Mediterranean diet, Healthy Eating Index 2010, Alternate Healthy Eating Index 2010, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
After a median 16-year follow-up, data from 90,014 women was included in the analysis. Overall, there were 2121 reported cases of hip fractures and 28,718 cases of total fractures. Researchers found that women who adhered the most to the Mediterranean diet had reported fewer hip fractures than women in the other groups—a 0.29% absolute risk reduction.
The other diets did not have significant impact on fracture risk.
“Higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk for hip fractures,” researchers concluded. “These results support that a healthy dietary pattern may play a role in maintaining bone health in postmenopausal women.”
—Amanda Balbi
Reference:
Haring B, Crandall CJ, Wu C, et al. Dietary patterns and fractures in postmenopausal women: Results from the Women’s Health Initiative [published online March 28, 2016]. JAMA Intern Med. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.0482.