Edentulism and fruit and vegetable intake in low-income adults.
Poor dental status negatively relates to dietary intakes. However, this issue has not been researched among the most vulnerable groups in society. We aimed to investigate, in a national low-income sample, the association between dental status and fruit and vegetable consumption. We analyzed data on adults aged 50 years and older from the Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey, a representative sample of deprived UK households. Considerable numbers reported difficulty eating specific foods, with significantly worse experience among edentate than dentate people. The mean daily fruits and vegetables consumption was low (256.5 g for dentate, 207.1 g for edentate). After adjustment for socio-demographic and behavioral variables, edentate individuals consumed 50.7 g (27.0, 74.3) fewer fruits/vegetables per day than the dentate. Over and above the effects of material deprivation on nutrient intake, edentulism negatively relates to eating fruits and vegetables and achieving a healthy diet in materially deprived older adults.
Tsakos
G
G
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL Medical School, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK. g.tsakos@ucl.ac.uk
Herrick
K
K
Sheiham
A
A
Watt
R G
RG
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003817:Dentition; D004522:Educational Status; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007575:Jaw, Edentulous / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000145:classification; D009909:Oral Health; D050177:Overweight / Q000145:classification; D011203:Poverty; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D012923:Social Class; D006113:United Kingdom; D014675:Vegetables; D035862:Vulnerable Populations