No abstract

The aim of the present analysis was to evaluate the association of the Mediterranean diet (MeDi), smoking habits and physical activity with all-cause mortality in an Italian population during a 20-year follow-up study. A total of 1693 subjects aged 40-74 who enrolled in the study in 1991 -5 were asked about dietary and other lifestyle information at baseline. Adherence to the MeDi was evaluated by the Mediterranean dietary score (MedDietScore). A healthy lifestyle score was computed by assigning 1 point each for a medium or high adherence to the MedDietScore, non-smoking and physical activity. Cox models were used to assess the associations between lifestyle factors and healthy lifestyle scores and all-cause mortality, adjusting for potential confounders. The final sample included 974 subjects with complete data and without chronic disease at baseline. During a median of 17·4 years of follow-up, 193 people died. Subjects with high adherence to the MedDietScore (hazard ratio (HR) 0·62, 95 % CI 0·43, 0·89)), non-smokers (HR 0·71, 95 % CI 0·51, 0·98) and physically active subjects (HR 0·55, 95 % CI 0·36, 0·82) were at low risk of death. Each point increase in the MedDietScore was associated with a significant 5 % reduction of death risk. Subjects with 1, 2 or 3 healthy lifestyle behaviours had a significantly 39, 56, and 73 % reduced risk of death, respectively. A high adherence to MeDi, non-smoking and physical activity were strongly associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality in healthy subjects after long-term follow-up. This reduction was even stronger when the healthy lifestyle behaviours were combined.

National Research Council (Italy), 'Invecchiamento' Project no. 95.01048.PF40.

Objective: To describe the food consumption patterns of Italian elderly subjects and the factors associated with different dietary habits. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Population-based study. Subjects: A total of 847 men and 1465 women aged 65 y or older, living in rural areas in the province of Pavia (Northern Italy) and near Cosenza (Southern Italy) in 1992-1993. Interventions: The dietary information was collected by means of a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire, with cluster analysis being used to segregate the subjects on the basis of similarities in their food consumption. A generalised logistic regression model including residence, age, living status, education, physical activity and degree of disability was fitted to assess the factors associated with different food consumption habits. Results: Six dietary clusters were selected for men and seven for women. The largest cluster for both genders was 'small eaters' (46% of men and 51% of women); 'big eaters', 'light diet' and 'alcohol' clusters were also identified for both genders. The men were also grouped into 'balanced diet' and 'cheese' clusters, and the women into 'sweet', 'greens' and 'butter' clusters. Conclusions: In addition to the influence of the area of residence F residents in Northern Italy consume greater amounts of animal fats, sugar and alcoholic beverages, and those living in Southern Italy have a greater intake of fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil F all of the other studied variables predicted the probabilities of falling into a specific dietary cluster.