Association between consumption of ultra-processed food at midlife and handgrip strength at late life: The Singapore Chinese Health Study

Abstract

Objectives

Cohort studies with sufficient follow-up that include an assessment of overall diet quality are necessary to determine the prospective relationship between consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and muscle strength.

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Setting and participants

We included 13,570 participants from the Singapore Chinese Health Study who were recruited at a mean age of 53 years from 1993 to 1998, and re-visited at follow-up 3 when they were at a mean age of 74 years from 2014 to 2017, after a median follow-up of 21.2 years.

Measurements

At baseline, UPFs were defined according to the Nova classification using dietary information collected via a validated 165-item food-frequency questionnaire. During the third follow-up visits, handgrip strength was measured using a digital grip strength dynamometer. Muscle weakness was defined as the lowest sex-specific quintile of handgrip strength.

Results

Compared to participants in the lowest quintile of UPF consumption, those in the highest quintile of UPF consumption showed a reduction of 0.411 kg [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.148, 0.674] in absolute handgrip strength, a reduction of 0.229 kg/m (95% CI, 0.071, 0.387) in handgrip strength by height, and an OR of 1.32 (95% CI, 1.15, 1.53) for muscle weakness. These associations remained significant after adjusting for overall diet quality.

Conclusion

Higher UPF consumption in midlife is linked to lower handgrip strength in later life, independent of overall diet quality.