Latent profile analysis of dietary intake in a community-dwelling sample of older Americans

Objective: To estimate latent dietary profiles in a community-dwelling sample of older Americans and identify associations between dietary profile membership and individual demographic, socio-economic and health characteristics. Design: Secondary analysis of the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and linked 2013 Health Care and Nutrition Study (HCNS). Latent profile analysis identified mutually exclusive subgroups of dietary intake and bivariate analyses examined associations between dietary profile membership, participant characteristics and nutrient intakes. Setting: USA. Participants: An analytic sample of 3558 adults aged 65 years or older. Results: Four dietary profiles were identified with 15 center dot 5 % of the sample having a 'Healthy' diet, 42 center dot 0 % consuming a 'Western' diet, 29 center dot 7 % having a diet consisting of high intake of all food groups and 12 center dot 7 % reporting relatively low intake of all food groups. Members of the 'Healthy' profile reported the greatest socio-economic resources and health, and members of the 'Low Intake' profile had the fewest resources and worst health outcomes. Macronutrient and micronutrient intakes varied across profile although inadequate and excessive intakes of selected nutrients were observed for all profiles. Conclusions: We identified dietary patterns among older Americans typified by either selective intake of foods or overall quantity of foods consumed, with those described as 'Low Intake' reporting the fewest socio-economic resources, greatest risk of food insecurity and the worst health outcomes. Limitations including the presence of measurement error in dietary questionnaires are discussed. The causes and consequences of limited dietary intake among older Americans require further study and can be facilitated by the HRS and HCNS.