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. 2020 Sep;23(13):2268-2279.
doi: 10.1017/S1368980020000257. Epub 2020 May 29.

Older adults with obesity have higher risks of some micronutrient inadequacies and lower overall dietary quality compared to peers with a healthy weight, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), 2011-2014

Shinyoung Jun  1 , Alexandra E Cowan  1 , Anindya Bhadra  2 , Kevin W Dodd  3 , Johanna T Dwyer  4 , Heather A Eicher-Miller  1 , Jaime J Gahche  4 , Patricia M Guenther  5 , Nancy Potischman  4 , Janet A Tooze  6 , Regan L Bailey  1
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Older adults with obesity have higher risks of some micronutrient inadequacies and lower overall dietary quality compared to peers with a healthy weight, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), 2011-2014

Shinyoung Jun et al. Public Health Nutr. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate total usual intakes and biomarkers of micronutrients, overall dietary quality and related health characteristics of US older adults who were overweight or obese compared with a healthy weight.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Two 24-h dietary recalls, nutritional biomarkers and objective and subjective health characteristic data were analysed from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2014. We used the National Cancer Institute method to estimate distributions of total usual intakes from foods and dietary supplements for eleven micronutrients of potential concern and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 score.

Participants: Older adults aged ≥60 years (n 2969) were categorised by sex and body weight status, using standard BMI categories. Underweight individuals (n 47) were excluded due to small sample size.

Results: A greater percentage of obese older adults compared with their healthy-weight counterparts was at risk of inadequate Mg (both sexes), Ca, vitamin B6 and vitamin D (women only) intakes. The proportion of those with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D < 40 nmol/l was higher in obese (12 %) than in healthy-weight older women (6 %). Mean overall HEI-2015 scores were 8·6 (men) and 7·1 (women) points lower in obese than in healthy-weight older adults. In addition, compared with healthy-weight counterparts, obese older adults were more likely to self-report fair/poor health, use ≥ 5 medications and have limitations in activities of daily living and cardio-metabolic risk factors; and obese older women were more likely to be food-insecure and have depression.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that obesity may coexist with micronutrient inadequacy in older adults, especially among women.

Keywords: Healthy Eating Index; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; Nutritional biomarker; Obesity; Total usual nutrient intake.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Prevalence of total usual micronutrient intakes above the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) among US older adults (≥60 years) by sex and weight status, estimated from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2014: (A) men; (B) women. The UL for folate apply to folic acid, which is a synthetic form obtained from supplements, fortified foods or a combination of the two. Estimates for vitamins A and E could not be determined as intakes from dietary supplements are not available in NHANES 2011–2014. a,bMean values within a same row for each sex with different superscript letters were significantly different (P < 0·016). (A and B) formula image, Healthy weight; formula image, over weight; formula image, obese
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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