Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of hip fracture A cohort study of Swedish men and women

• Dietary guidelines recommend a daily intake of five servings of fruit and vegetables. Whether such intakes are associated with a lower risk of hip fracture is at present unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the dose-response association between habitual fruit and vegetable intake and hip fracture in a cohort study based on 40,644 men from the Cohort of Swedish Men (COSM) and 34,947 women from the Swedish Mammography Cohort (SMC) (total n=75,591), free from cardiovascular disease and cancer, who answered lifestyle questionnaires in 1997 (age 45-83 years). Intake of fruit and vegetables (servings/day) was assessed by food frequency questionnaire and incident hip fractures were retrieved from the Swedish Patient Register (1998-2010). The mean follow-up time was 14.2 years. One third of the participants reported an intake of fruit and vegetables of >5 servings/day, one third >3 to ≤5 servings/day, 28% >1 to ≤3 servings/day, and 6% reported ≤1 serving/day. During 1,037,645 person-years we observed 3,644 hip fractures (2,266, 62%, in women). The doseresponse association was found to be strongly non-linear (P<0.001). Men and women with zero consumption had 88% higher rate of hip fracture compared with those consuming 5 servings/day; adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 1.88 (95% CI, 1.53-2.32). The rate was gradually lower with higher intakes; adjusted HR for 1 vs 5 servings/day, 1.35 (95% CI, 1.21-1.58). However, more than 5 servings/day did not confer additionally lower HRs (adjusted HR for 8 vs. 5 servings/day, 0.96 (95% CI, 0.90-1.03). Similar results were observed when men and women were analyzed separately. We conclude that there is a dose-response association between fruit and vegetable intake and hip fracture such that an intake below the recommended 5 servings/day confers higher rates of hip fracture. Intakes above this recommendation do not seem to further lower the risk.

Subject headings

Medical and Health Sciences  (hsv)

Clinical Medicine  (hsv)

Orthopedics  (hsv)

Medicin och hälsovetenskap  (hsv)

Klinisk medicin  (hsv)

Ortopedi  (hsv)