Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May 26;11(1):102.
doi: 10.1186/s40795-025-01085-3.

Association between dietary diversity and healthy aging: a systematic review

Roghayeh Molani-Gol  1   2 , Maryam Rafraf  2 , Beitullah Alipour  3
Affiliations

Association between dietary diversity and healthy aging: a systematic review

Roghayeh Molani-Gol et al. BMC Nutr. .

Abstract

Objective: The proportion of older people has been enhanced in the past half-century around the world, consequently leading to the increasing overall prevalence of age-related health conditions. The present study aims to summarize the current evidence regarding the association between dietary diversity (DD) and the components of healthy aging.

Methods: The databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, were searched using relevant keywords and without date restrictions up to November 2023. All original articles written in English evaluating the association between DD and healthy aging components were eligible for this systematic review.

Results: Totally, 2728 records were obtained in electronic search databases after removing duplicates and irrelevant studies based on the title and abstract; the full text of the 64 articles was critically screened, and 32 cross-sectional studies and 17 cohort studies were included in this review. Except for two cases, all of these studies (95.9%) reported that high DD was associated with lower cognitive and physical frailties, low sleep disturbance and mental disorders, and good nutritional status among the elderly population.

Conclusion: Findings suggest higher DD may contribute to healthy aging through improved nutrient intake and reduced risk of age-related diseases, but heterogeneity in study designs limits conclusive evidence. Enhancing healthy dietary behaviors for older people is suggested to increase their awareness and consequently DD. Further research is needed to confirm these results and the causal relationship.

Keywords: Dietary diversity; Healthy aging; Older adult; Systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Moreover, this research protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran (Ethical Code: IR.TBZMED.VCR.REC.1402.307). All participants signed written informed consent before completing the questionnaire. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The process of study selection for this systematic review (PRISMA diagram)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. ESCAP U. Ageing in Asia and the Pacific: overview. 2017.
    1. Kontis V, Bennett JE, Mathers CD, Li G, Foreman K, Ezzati MJTL. Future life expectancy in 35 industrialised countries: projections with a bayesian model ensemble. 2017;389(10076):1323–35. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brivio P, Paladini MS, Racagni G, Riva MA, Calabrese F, Molteni RJCMC. From healthy aging to frailty: in search of the underlying mechanisms. 2019;26(20):3685–701. - PubMed
    1. Salomon JA, Wang H, Freeman MK, Vos T, Flaxman AD, Lopez AD et al. Healthy life expectancy for 187 countries, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the global burden disease study 2010. 2012;380(9859):2144–62. - PubMed
    1. Zhou M, Li Y, Wang H, Zeng X, Wang L, Liu S et al. Analysis on life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in China, 1990–2015. 2016;37(11):1439–43. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources