Continuing diet trends in men: the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (1961-1987)

Due to increasing evidence for the role of nutrition as a cause of illness and of the efforts of health agencies to induce Americans to change their diets, it is important to monitor populations for changes in their nutrient intakes. Seven-day diet records were collected from 105 free-living men in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Age range was initially 27 to 65 and finally 50 to 88 years. The men were divided into age groups so that longitudinal, time series, and cross-sectional analyses could distinguish among differences due to aging, cohort, and secular change. Longitudinal decreases over three decades of time include height, intakes of kcal/day, kcal/kg, kcal from fat, and cholesterol (all p less than .0001). Longitudinal increases over time include body weight, intakes of kcal from alcohol (p = .002), kcal from carbohydrate, and polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio (P/S) (all p less than .0001). Values that correlated cross-sectionally with age in the 1960s were height, kcal/day, kcal/kg, kcal from protein, and P/S ratio; height, intakes of kcal from protein, and fiber in the 1970s; and body weight, height, intakes of kcal from carbohydrate and fiber in the 1980s (all p less than .05). Protein consumption remained constant while carbohydrate increased as time passed. The more striking secular changes were in type and amount of fat consumed (42% to 34% of kcal, a 37% decline in cholesterol and a 72% increase in P/S ratio). Voluntary changes in the diets of these community-dwelling men indicate that, at any age, men can make beneficial changes in intake of nutrients that affect health.