Long-term consumption of liquid dairy products predicts lower fracture risk in aging women: a 25-year follow-up

TL;DR

Long-term consumption of liquid dairy products like milk and yogurt is linked to lower fracture risk in aging women over 25 years.

Contribution

The study shows that liquid dairy, not cheese, is associated with reduced fracture risk in older women.

Findings

Higher liquid dairy intake was linked to lower risk of any and osteoporotic fractures.

Cheese consumption was not associated with overall fracture risk but reduced hip fracture risk.

Public health initiatives promoting liquid dairy may help reduce fractures in aging women.

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate whether high dairy products consumption is associated with reduced fracture risk in aging women, contributing to understanding this health issue.

Data was obtained from the Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention (OSTPRE) study, a large cohort of 14,220 older Finnish women (mean baseline age 52.3 years) with 25 years of follow-up. Participants completed questionnaires every five years, providing information on health status, lifestyle habits, dairy products consumption (milk, sour milk, yogurt, cheese), and fracture history. Cox proportional hazard models with time-dependent covariates were used to estimate hazard ratios for any fracture, hip fracture, or osteoporotic fracture based on dairy products consumption. The models were adjusted for time-updated BMI (kg/m²), alcohol use (portions/day), physical activity (hours/month), age (years), use of calcium and/or vitamin D supplements (yes/no), and use of bone-affecting medications (yes/no).

Higher liquid dairy products consumption (milk, sour milk, yogurt) was associated with decreased risk for any fracture (β = 0.98, SE = 0.01, P = 0.008) and osteoporotic fracture (β = 0.97, SE = 0.01, P = 0.011). In contrast, cheese consumption was not associated with the overall risk of any fracture or osteoporotic fracture. In a separate analysis, higher cheese consumption was linked to a reduced hip fracture risk (β = 0.91, SE = 0.05, P = 0.043) while no association was found between liquid dairy products consumption and hip fracture risk.

A long-term consumption of liquid dairy products may lower fracture risk. Encouraging the consumption of these products through public health initiatives may help reduce fractures and ease the economic burden on the healthcare system.

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