Dietary patterns and risk of hip fractures in postmenopausal women and men over 50 years.
We followed 74,540 postmenopausal women and 35,451 men above age 50 for up to 30 years. Neither the prudent pattern, characterized by higher intakes of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, nor the Western pattern, characterized by higher intakes of red/processed meats, and refined grains were associated with hip fracture risk.


BACKGROUND
We examined the association between predominant dietary patterns and risk of hip fractures in postmenopausal women and men over 50 years.


METHODS
We used data from 74,540 women in the Nurses' Health Study followed between 1980 and 2010, and 35,451 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study followed between 1986 and 2012 for this analysis. Health and lifestyle information was assessed every 2 years. Diet was assessed approximately every 4 years with a food frequency questionnaire. Two major dietary patterns were previously derived using principal component analysis. The prudent pattern is characterized by higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and poultry, and the Western pattern is characterized by higher intakes of red and processed meats, sweets, and refined grains. We computed relative risks (RR) for hip fracture by dietary pattern scores using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for potential confounders.


RESULTS
During follow-up, there were 1891 hip fractures in women and 596 in men. No association was observed between the prudent or Western pattern and risk of hip fractures in either men or women. We also did not find an association among lean (body mass index (BMI) <25) or overweight (BMI ≥25) individuals or among those with higher or lower levels of physical activity.


CONCLUSIONS
Neither the prudent nor the Western dietary pattern was associated with risk of hip fractures in postmenopausal women or men over 50 years of age.
Department of Nutrition, Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA. fung@simmons.edu.|Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. fung@simmons.edu.
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Fung
Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Feskanich
D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004034:Diet Surveys / Q000379:methods; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D058866:Osteoporotic Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012737:Sex Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
Diet; Dietary pattern; Fractures; Postmenopause