Dairy intake on body composition and physical function in older women

• Method:
  • 1,456 older women aged 70 to 85 years were assessed for dairy consumption (milk, yogurt and cheese).
  • Assessments of anthropometric and body composition, physical function, and self-reported falls in the previous 3 months.
     
• Key Findings:

  - Significantly greater whole body lean mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass (P-values = 0.001 and 0.002 respectively).

  - Better physical performance in terms of hand-grip strength and Timed Up and Go tests (P-values = 0.02 and 0.04 respectively).

  • As compared with dairy intake of ≤ 1.5 servings/day, consumption of ≥ 2.2 servings/day was associated with:
  • No significant difference in terms of the prevalence of falls in the previous 3 months was shown.
     
• Conclusion:
  Higher dairy intake was associated with greater whole body lean mass and better physical performance in older women.

WYE-EM-025-FEB-15

Reference

Radavelli-Bagatini S, Zhu K, Lewis JR, Dhaliwal SS, Prince RL. Association of Dairy Intake with Body Composition and Physical Function in Older Community-Dwelling Women. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013 Jul 19. doi:pii: S2212-2672(13)00645-X. 10.1016/j.jand.2013.05.019. [Epub ahead of print].  Link to PubMed