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American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on February 3, 2008
American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwm397
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American Journal of Epidemiology © The Author 2008. Published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Original Contribution

Dietary Intake Related to Prevalent Functional Limitations in Midlife Women

Kristin M. Tomey1, MaryFran R. Sowers1, Carolyn Crandall2, Janet Johnston3, Mary Jannausch1 and Matheos Yosef1

1 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
2 David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
3 Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Correspondence to Dr. MaryFran Sowers, University of Michigan, 339 E. Liberty, Suite 310, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (e-mail: mfsowers{at}umich.edu).

Received for publication August 3, 2007. Accepted for publication December 14, 2007.

Physical functioning measures are considered integrated markers of the aging process. This prospective investigation examined relations between dietary intake of women at midlife in 1996–1997 and prevalence of physical functioning limitations 4 years later, defined by the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36. The sample included 2,160 multiethnic women, aged 42–52 years, from six geographic areas participating in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Associations between measures of diet quality and number of fruit and vegetable servings and prevalent physical functional limitations (no, moderate, or substantial limitations) were tested by logistic regression. The prevalence of moderate and substantial functional limitations was 31% and 10%, respectively. Women in the highest quartile of cholesterol intake had 40% greater odds (odds ratio = 1.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 1.8) of being more limited versus those in the lowest quartile. Women in the highest quartile of fat and saturated fat intakes were 50% and 60% more likely to be more limited, with respective odds ratios of 1.5 and 1.6 (95% confidence intervals: 1.2, 2.0 and 1.2, 2.1) versus those in the lowest quartiles. Lower fruit, vegetable, and fiber intakes were related to reporting greater functional limitations. Modifying dietary practices could be important in minimizing physical limitations.

body mass index; diet; disabled persons

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio; Y04, fourth examination


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