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Nutrition implications of low fruit and vegetable intakes in the Geisinger Rural Aging Study
Author(s) -
Mitchell Diane C,
Bailey Regan L,
Hartman Terryl J,
SmiciklasWright Helen
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a712-a
Subject(s) - medicine , nutrient , anthropometry , environmental health , population , psychological intervention , gerontology , biology , ecology , psychiatry
Recommendations for fruit and vegetable (FV) intakes have nearly doubled despite that more than half the U.S. population does not meet previous recommendations. The purpose of this study was to examine the implications of low FV intakes in a group of rural older adults at nutrition risk who are part of the Geisinger Rural Aging Study (114 male, 158 female; mean age 79). Anthropometric data and fasting blood samples were collected during a clinic visit. Four 24‐hour diet recalls were collected by telephone and analyzed using NDS‐R. Intakes of FV were compared to the new MyPyramid (7–9 cups/day) and previous 5‐A‐Day (5 servings) recommendations. Based on 5‐A‐Day, 36% met recommendations while only 8% met the MyPyramid recommendations. As expected, consuming 5 or more servings of FV a day resulted in higher (p<0.05) intakes of fiber, mean nutrient adequacy ratios, and serum carotenoids and was associated with less risk for inadequate intakes of many key nutrients including Vit C, B6, A, magnesium, zinc, and folate. However, a significant number of the older adults who met 5‐A‐Day still had inadequate intakes of many key nutrients. These data support the new recommendations for increasing FV intakes and highlight the need for interventions in older adults, the majority of whom are already at nutrition risk and are consuming far less FV than recommended. Supported in part by USDA #58‐1950‐6019, NIH R21AG023179.