A study led by researchers in Trinity has shown that more than 96 per cent of adults over the age of 60 do not meet the Department of Health’s guidelines for dairy consumption of three servings per day.
The largest study of its kind in Ireland examined the nutritional status of over 4,300 individuals from the Trinity-Ulster Department of Agriculture (TUDA) ageing cohort. TUDA is a cross-border project between Trinity, Ulster University and the Department of Agriculture, and their cohort, which includes participants from both Northern Ireland and the south, is currently being used as part of a wider study examining the links between lifestyle, genetics, nutrition and the likelihood of developing a chronic disease.
This latest research revealed that only 3.5 per cent of those studied were consuming three or more servings of dairy per day. Older people are already vulnerable to nutritional inadequacies, and therefore it is considered important to meet basic nutritional standards that are important for healthy ageing.
The study also found that consumption of dairy and in particular, yoghurt, contributes significantly to vitamin B and vitamin D status in older adults. It was found that individuals who consumed the most dairy products had significantly higher blood levels of vitamins including B12, B2, B6 and folate. In a press release, Prof Anne Molloy of the Department of Clinical Medicine in Trinity and a senior investigator of the study, said that they are “concerned that this study shows that older Irish people are foregoing an opportunity to boost their intake of specific nutrients including B vitamins, which can play an important role in healthy ageing”.
On average, men consumed fewer dairy portions than women and in total both men and women consumed little over one portion of dairy per day. They also found an association between the number of dairy products consumed and a lower BMI, a measure of body fatness. While cheese consumption was consistent across age groups, cheese was not found to affect blood concentration of micronutrients. The study, as a result, suggests that fortifying cheese with micronutrients such as vitamins B and D may be useful in attempting to ensure adequate nutrient levels in older adults.
In a press release, Dr Eamon Laird, lead author of the study and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Medical Gerontology at Trinity said: “The data suggests that older adults appear to be missing out on a relatively healthy and easily available source of vitamins and micronutrients.”
The study was carried out in collaboration with researchers from the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE) at Ulster University, Coleraine and the Mercers Institute for successful ageing St James’s Hospital Dublin.
