A New Approach to Assess Lifetime Dietary Patterns Finds Lower Consumption of Animal Foods with Aging in a Longitudinal Analysis of a Health-Oriented Adventist Population
by
Marcia C. T. Martins 1,
Karen Jaceldo-Siegl 2,
Michael Orlich 2
,
Jing Fan 2,
Andrew Mashchak 2 and
Gary E. Fraser 2,*
Marcia C. T. Martins 1,
Karen Jaceldo-Siegl 2,
Michael Orlich 2,
Jing Fan 2,
Andrew Mashchak 2 and
Gary E. Fraser 2,*
1
Department of Nutrition, Adventist University of São Paulo—UNASP/SP, Estrada de Itapecerica 5859, Jardim IAE, São Paulo 05858-001, Brazil
2
School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA 92350, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2017, 9(10), 1118; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9101118
Received: 27 July 2017 / Revised: 22 September 2017 / Accepted: 10 October 2017 / Published: 13 October 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Science of Vegetarian Nutrition and Health)
Life-course diet patterns may impact risk of disease, but little is known about dietary trends with aging. In a retrospective longitudinal analysis we estimated lifetime intake of animal products and adherence to vegetarian dietary patterns among 51,082 Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) subjects using data from a reliable life-course dietary (meats, dairy, eggs) questionnaire. Results showed a marked tendency to consume fewer animal products (in total) in older years and to reduce consumption of meat, poultry and fish, but not eggs or dairy. Among the 29% of elderly subjects who during their lifetime kept the same dietary pattern (LTS) were: LTS-vegans (1.1%), LTS-lacto-ovo vegetarians (31.2%), LTS-pesco vegetarians (0.49%), LTS-semi vegetarians (3.7%), and LTS-non-vegetarians (63.5%). Among the 71% of switchers were “Converters” (59.7%) who moved towards and “Reverters” (9.1%) who moved away from vegetarian diets, and Multiverters (31.2%), who had moved in both directions. LTS-non-vegetarians, and also reverters, were more overweight and showed a less healthy lifestyle than others. We conclude that the dietary patterns are dynamic with strong trends to reduce animal foods and to adopt more vegetarian patterns with aging. The disease experience of subjects with different lifetime dietary patterns can be compared.
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Keywords:
diet; vegetarian; dietary patterns; Adventists; dietary recall; life-course nutrition; foods of animal origin; lifetime diet patterns
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MDPI and ACS Style
Martins, M.C.T.; Jaceldo-Siegl, K.; Orlich, M.; Fan, J.; Mashchak, A.; Fraser, G.E. A New Approach to Assess Lifetime Dietary Patterns Finds Lower Consumption of Animal Foods with Aging in a Longitudinal Analysis of a Health-Oriented Adventist Population. Nutrients 2017, 9, 1118.
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