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

PURPOSE: 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.

METHOD: 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).

RESULTS

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.

CONCLUSION

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.