Mediterranean Diet Reduces Hip Fracture Risk Save

Eating a Mediterranean diet full of fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, legumes and whole grains appears to be associated with a lower risk of hip fracture in women, although the actual risk reduction was small, according to a new study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Haring and coworkers from the University of Würzburg, Bavaria studied whether diet quality affects bone health in postmenopausal women. The authors analyzed data from 40 clinical centers throughout the United States included in the Women’s Health Initiative study.

Nearly 90,000 women were followed for a mean of 15.9 years and 28,718 fractures were observed. Women scoring in the highest quintile (Q5) of the aMED index (quantifying a Mediterranean diet) had a lower risk for hip fractures (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66-0.97), with a small absolute risk reduction of 0.29% and a number needed to treat of 342. 

Although women who scored the highest for adherence to a Mediterranean diet were at lower risk for hip fractures, there was no association between a Mediterranean diet and total fracture risk.

Study limitations include that only postmenopausal women in overall good health were included; outcomes of fractures were self-reported; and assessment of certain nutrients with questionnaires is problematic.
 
“High diet quality characterized by adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk for hip fractures. These results support the notion that following a healthy dietary pattern may play a role in the maintenance of bone health in postmenopausal women,” the authors conclude.