Dietary patterns from mid-through later-life in relation to sarcopenia risk over 20 years among Chinese community-dwelling oldest old individuals

Background Evidence regarding how dietary patterns (DPs) from mid- (60 years old) to later-life (over 80 years old) affect sarcopenia risk in old age is scarce. Methods We included 7267 participants aged ≥80 years from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey in 2018. The Simplified Healthy Eating Index (SHE index) based on nine dietary variables was used to measured DPs and changes in DPs, with a higher score indicating better diet quality. The term "Mid-life" DPs denoted dietary habits at the age of 60 whereas "Later-life" DPs referred to dietary habits acquired over 80 years old. Sarcopenia risk was evaluated using the SARC-CalF questionnaire. We applied multivariable adjusted logistic regression models to investigate the cross-sectional association between DPs in a life course and sarcopenia risk in 2018 after adjusting for potential confounders including sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle risk factors, and unfavorable health conditions. Several sensitivity analyses were conducted to verify the robustness of the results. Results We found that healthier DPs during both mid- and later-life were associated with a decreased odds of sarcopenia risk, with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 0.69 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.54–0.88) and 0.84 (95 % CI: 0.71–0.99), respectively. The odds of sarcopenia risk were also decreased among those with healthier DPs over a period of 20 years (OR = 0.80, 95 % CI: 0.69–0.93). For each nutrient consumption, participants who had high-quality fish consumption both in mid- and later-life had a 23 % decreased odds of sarcopenia risk (OR = 0.77, 95 % CI: 0.67–0.88) compared with those who had low-quality fish consumption all the time. The results were largely unchanged in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of maintaining healthy dietary habits throughout life to reduce the risk of sarcopenia in old age.