Food consumption is associated with frailty in edentulous older adults: evidence from the ELSI-Brazil study

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the association between food consump-tion (meat, fish, and fruits and vegetables), an-thropometric indicators (body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio), and frailty; and to verify whether these associations vary with edentulism. We used data from 8,629 participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil) (2015-16). Frailty was defined by unintentional weight loss, weakness, slow walking speed, exhaustion, and low physi-cal activity. Statistical analyses included multi-nomial logistic regression. Of the participants, 9% were frail and 54% pre-frail. Non-regular meat consumption was positively associated with pre-frailty and frailty. Non-regular fish consump-tion, and underweight were associated only with frailty. Models with interactions reveled a mar-ginal interaction between meat consumption and edentulism (p-value = 0.051). After stratification, non-regular meat consumption remained associ-ated with frailty only in edentulous individuals (OR = 1.97; 95%CI 1.27-3.04). Our results high-light the importance of nutritional assessment, oral health, and public health-promoting policies to avoid, delay and/or reverse frailty in older adults.

Automated summary

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the association between food consumption (meat, fish, and fruits and vegetables), anthropometric indicators (body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio), and frailty; and to verify whether these associations vary with edentulism. The study found that non-regular meat consumption was positively associated with pre-frailty and frailty, while non-regular fish consumption and underweight were associated only with frailty. Interaction analysis revealed a marginal interaction between meat consumption and edentulism, with non-regular meat consumption remaining associated with frailty only in edentulous individuals. The results highlight the importance of nutritional assessment, oral health, and public health-promoting policies to prevent, delay, and/or reverse frailty in older adults.