Eating more healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, poultry and fish seems to offer better nutritional status, quality of life and survival in older adults, U.S. researchers say. (Larry Crowe/Associated Press)

Elderly participants in a U.S. study who ate a healthy diet over 10 years were less likely to die within that period than those who ate less-healthy foods.

The diet comparison study of 2,500 U.S. adults between the ages of 70 and 79 suggested those who ate a high-fat diet of ice cream, cheese and whole milk showed the highest risk of death over a 10-year period, researchers report in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Among those with relatively higher intake of healthier foods, 12 more people for every 100 participants survived over the decade compared with people eating a predominantly high-fat diet.

The study was unique in that it evaluated participants' quality of life and nutritional status with detailed biochemical measurements without scoring eating habits based on a particular diet regimen, such as the so-called Mediterranean diet, which favours fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

By determining the consumption frequency of 108 different food items, researchers grouped the participants into six different clusters based on predominant food choices:

• Healthy foods (374 participants).
• High-fat dairy products (332).
• Meat, fried foods, and alcohol (693).
• Breakfast cereal (386).
• Refined grains (458).
• Sweets and desserts (339).

"A dietary pattern consistent with current guidelines to consume relatively high amounts of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish, and low-fat dairy products [classified as 'healthy foods' in the study] may be associated with superior nutritional status, quality of life and survival in older adults," Amy Anderson, of the department of nutrition and food science at the University of Maryland, and her co-authors concluded.

The results included:

• Of the 322 people in the high-fat dairy products cluster, 109, or 34 per cent, died over the 10-year period.
• Among the 339 people in the sweets and desserts cluster, 104, or 32 per cent, died over the study period.
• Of the 374 people in the healthy foods cluster, 77, or 21 per cent, died.

The researchers observed no significant differences in mortality risk between the healthy foods eaters and the breakfast cereal or refined grains eaters.

Since a large percentage of the older adults in the study followed the healthy food diet pattern, adherence to it seems to be a feasible and realistic recommendation for potentially improved survival and quality of life among seniors, Anderson said.

The researchers took factors such as gender, age, race, education, physical activity, smoking and total calorie intake into account, but heights and weights were only measured at the beginning of the study.

People in the healthy foods group also tended to smoke less and be more physically active than other participants.