Edentulism and Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Low-income Adults

Abstract

Poor dental status negatively relates to dietary intakes. However, this issue has not been researched among the most vulnerable groups in society. We aimed to investigate, in a national low-income sample, the association between dental status and fruit and vegetable consumption. We analyzed data on adults aged 50 years and older from the Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey, a representative sample of deprived UK households. Considerable numbers reported difficulty eating specific foods, with significantly worse experience among edentate than dentate people. The mean daily fruits and vegetables consumption was low (256.5 g for dentate, 207.1 g for edentate). After adjustment for socio-demographic and behavioral variables, edentate individuals consumed 50.7 g (27.0, 74.3) fewer fruits/vegetables per day than the dentate. Over and above the effects of material deprivation on nutrient intake, edentulism negatively relates to eating fruits and vegetables and achieving a healthy diet in materially deprived older adults.