Consumption of fruits and vegetables: improved physical health, mental health, physical functioning and cognitive health in older adults from 11 European countries

Objective: Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables has been found to contribute to physical health and physical functioning. However, health is not limited to the absence of physical diseases but also encompasses mental health and cognition. Thus, we wanted to examine how the consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with overall health, including mental health and cognitive health of older European adults. Design: We used multilevel regression analysis (participants nested within countries) to examine the effects of nutrition on overall health. Participants were asked in 2011 about their health behaviour including nutritional habits. Several health outcomes were measured longitudinally in 2013: Self-rated health, grip strength, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), activities of daily living (ADL), mobility, depression, quality of life, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Setting: We used the 2011 and 2013 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a multi-national population survey of older adults. Subjects: N = 22,635 older adults were sampled from 11 European countries. Results: Frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with improved health outcomes, including cognitive and mental health. Conclusions: Frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables contributes to slower disablement processes and might be an easily implementable way to improve the overall health of older adults. Future studies should examine the cross-national differences in the observed effects.