Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of hip fracture : A cohort study of Swedish men and women

Dietary guidelines recommend a daily intake of five servings of fruit and vegetables. Whether such intakes are associated with a lower risk of hip fracture is at present unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the dose-response association between habitual fruit and vegetable intake and hip fracture in a cohort study based on 40,644 men from the Cohort of Swedish Men (COSM) and 34,947 women from the Swedish Mammography Cohort (SMC) (total n=75,591), free from cardiovascular disease and cancer, who answered lifestyle questionnaires in 1997 (age 45-83 years). Intake of fruit and vegetables (servings/day) was assessed by food frequency questionnaire and incident hip fractures were retrieved from the Swedish Patient Register (1998-2010). The mean follow-up time was 14.2 years. One third of the participants reported an intake of fruit and vegetables of >5 servings/day, one third >3 to ≤5 servings/day, 28% >1 to ≤3 servings/day, and 6% reported ≤1 serving/day. During 1,037,645 person-years we observed 3,644 hip fractures (2,266, 62%, in women). The doseresponse association was found to be strongly non-linear (P<0.001). Men and women with zero consumption had 88% higher rate of hip fracture compared with those consuming 5 servings/day; adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 1.88 (95% CI, 1.53-2.32). The rate was gradually lower with higher intakes; adjusted HR for 1 vs 5 servings/day, 1.35 (95% CI, 1.21-1.58). However, more than 5 servings/day did not confer additionally lower HRs (adjusted HR for 8 vs. 5 servings/day, 0.96 (95% CI, 0.90-1.03). Similar results were observed when men and women were analyzed separately. We conclude that there is a dose-response association between fruit and vegetable intake and hip fracture such that an intake below the recommended 5 servings/day confers higher rates of hip fracture. Intakes above this recommendation do not seem to further lower the risk