Better diet quality is associated with healthier aging among urban elderly

BACKGROUND: Diet quality is suggested to be an important element in a healthy aging experience among elderly population. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the association of diet quality and parameters related to healthy aging in elderly living in urban areas. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 1,355 older adults aged 60 years or older living in big cities in Indonesia from April 2016 until June 2017. Diet quality was assessed using the healthy eating index (HEI-2015) while healthy aging was determined using the healthy aging index (HAI) consisting of 5 physiological indicators: systolic blood pressure, forced vital capacity, random blood glucose, serum cystatin C, and digit symbol substitution test. The correlation among study variables was analyzed using Spearman’s correlation test and linear regression test. RESULTS: The HEI-2015 and HAI scores obtained in this study were (48.8±3.5) and (5.2±0.3) respectively, thus demonstrating a slightly poor diet quality and health status. The HEI-2015 score was strongly associated with the HAI (ρ=–0.85, p<0.05; β=–0.08, 95% CI: –0.13–(–0.02), p<0.05). Four components of the HEI-2015 were found to be strongly associated with the HAI score: whole fruits, total vegetables, sodium, and added sugars. The physiological parameters of the HAI correlating strongly with the HEI-2015 score were systolic blood pressure and random blood glucose. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to establish the strong correlation between the HEI-2015 and HAI. Our findings suggest that improving diet quality would help urban elderly support their healthy aging experience.