Meat, vegetable, and fruit consumption among urban and rural elders aged 60+ years in regional China: a population-level nutritional study

The aim was to assess epidemiological characteristics of the most recent consumption patterns of meat, vegetable, and fruit among representative urban and rural residents aged 60+ years in regional China. In this cross-sectional survey conducted in mid-2018, participants aged 60+ years were randomly chosen from urban and rural communities in Nanjing municipality of China. Meat, vegetable, and fruit intake were assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models were applied to compute odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) to investigate the association of socio-demographic characteristics with a likelihood of meeting intake recommendation. Among the 20 867 participants, 49⋅5 % were men and 45⋅0 % urban elders, and 6⋅5 % aged 80+ years. The mean values of consumption frequency of red meat, white meat, vegetable, and fruit were 2⋅99 ± 2⋅28, 1⋅37 ± 1⋅13, 5⋅24 ± 6⋅43, and 2⋅64 ± 2⋅91 times/week, respectively, among overall participants. Moreover, there were 14⋅9, 23⋅7, and 12⋅1 % of participants meeting intake recommendations of meat, vegetable, and fruit, separately, in this study. After adjustment for potential confounders, age, gender, residence area, and educational attainment each was associated with the likelihood of meeting intake recommendation of meat, vegetable, or fruit. The consumption frequency and proportion of participants meeting intake recommendations of meat, vegetable, or fruit were not high among elders in regional China. Socio-demographic characteristics were associated with intake recommendations of meat, vegetables, and fruit. It has public health implications that participants’ socio-demographic attributes shall be considered for precision intervention on meat, vegetable, and fruit consumption in healthy eating campaigns among elders in China.