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Variety of fruit and vegetable intake and cognitive function in middle‐aged and older Puerto Rican adults
Author(s) -
Ye Xingwang,
Bhupathiraju Shilpa N,
Tucker Katherine L
Publication year - 2011
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.25.1_supplement.lb253
Subject(s) - cognition , environmental health , medicine , body mass index , gerontology , acculturation , cross sectional study , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , demography , geography , immigration , pathology , psychiatry , sociology , archaeology
Higher intake of fruit and vegetable has been associated with lower risk of several chronic diseases. We examined associations between total and variety of fruit and vegetable intake and cognitive function in a cross‐sectional sample of 1412 Puerto Rican adults, aged 45–75 years, living in the Boston area. Intake of fruit and vegetables was assessed with a food‐frequency questionnaire. Cognitive function was measured with a battery of seven tests; the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was administrated to assess global cognitive function. Greater variety of fruit and vegetable intake, but not total quantity, was associated with higher MMSE score after adjustment for age, sex, education, household income status, acculturation score, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, supplement use, medication use, instrumental activities of daily living score, diabetes, hypertension, and body mass index (P = 0.02). Variety remained significant after further adjusting for quantity (P = 0.045). Higher variety of fruit and vegetable intake was also associated with better executive function, memory and attention, after adjusting for the same covariates (all P <0.05). Increasing variety of fruit and vegetable intake may be more beneficial for cognitive function in middle‐aged and older adults than just increasing total quantity. This study was supported by NIH P01AG023394, R01AG02708 and P50HL105185.