(P18-016-24) Associations Between Diet Quality and Physical Activity in UK Older Adults

Objectives: Ageing can lead to changes in appetite and physical activity (PA), potentially impacting long-term diet quality (DQ) and overall health in older adults (≥65 years). Considering that poor DQ is associated with adverse health outcomes, improving diets becomes important for better health. Although DQ and PA have been previously associated with quality of life, the relationship between the two remains underexplored in this population.

Methods: This study aimed to assess the association of PA level and total energy expenditure (TEE) with DQ in 108 UK healthy older adults (70 (SD 4) years; body mass index 24.3 (SD 2.6) kg/m²). After data collection, participants were grouped (low, medium, high) based on wrist-worn accelerometer-measured PA level and total energy expenditure (TEE) from simplified PA diaries completed over seven days. Nutrient intake was determined by 3-day weighed food diaries and DQ was calculated using the Nutrient and Food-based Diet Quality Index-65 (NFDQI-65), tailored to the dietary requirements of UK older adults.

Results: While there was no statistically significant correlation between PA level, TEE, and total NFDQI-65 score (p >0.05), TEE showed significant positive correlations with the NFDQI-65 component scores for vegetables, fruit, protein, oily fish (p < 0.001), and wholegrain carbohydrate (p=0.002) (higher scores indicate higher intakes). Additionally, TEE was  negatively correlated with the free sugar and sodium components (lower scores indicate higher intakes) (p=0.03, p=0.001, respectively). Mean DQ scores did not significantly differ between PA and TEE groups. The sodium component score was significantly lower (indicating higher intake) in the high PA group compared to the low and medium groups (p < 0.001, p=0.003, respectively). Furthermore, the low TEE group had a significantly higher unsaturated to saturated fat ratio compared to the high group (p=0.007).

Conclusions: The findings demonstrated that although overall DQ did not differ based on PA level and TEE in older adults, TEE was associated with greater adherence to specific dietary recommendations. Further research is required to better understand the cause of these relationships.

Funding Sources: Republic of Turkey Ministry of National Education