title: Cooking frequency may enhance survival in Taiwanese elderly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between cooking behaviour and long-term survival among elderly Taiwanese.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort study. The duration of follow-up was the interval between the date of interview and the date of death or 31 December 2008, when censored for survivors. Information used included demographics, socio-economic status, health behaviours, cooking frequencies, physical function, cognitive function, nutrition knowledge awareness, eating out habits and food and nutrient intakes. These data were linked to death records. Cox proportional-hazards models were used to evaluate cooking frequency on death from 1999 to 2008 with related covariate adjustments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan, 1999-2000.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationally representative free-living elderly people aged ≥65 years (n 1888).
  
  
  RESULTS
  During a 10-year follow-up, 695 participants died. Those who cooked most frequently were younger, women, unmarried, less educated, non-drinkers of alcohol, non-smokers, without chewing difficulty, had spouse as dinner companion, normal cognition, who walked or shopped more than twice weekly, who ate less meat and more vegetables. Highly frequent cooking (>5 times/week, compared with never) predicted survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 0·47; 95 % CI, 0·36, 0·61); with adjustment for physical function, cognitive function, nutrition knowledge awareness and other covariates, HR was 0·59 (95 % CI, 0·41, 0·86). Women benefited more from cooking more frequently than did men, with decreased HR, 51 % v. 24 %, when most was compared with least. A 2-year delay in the assessment of survivorship led to similar findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cooking behaviour favourably predicts survivorship. Highly frequent cooking may favour women more than men.
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Services Research, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, 35 Keyan Road, Zhunan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rosalind Chia-Yu
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Meei-Shyuan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yu-Hung
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wahlqvist
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003296:Cooking; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan; D014675:Vegetables