Age and Ageing, Vol 29, 341-348, Copyright © 2000 by British Geriatrics Society
K Morgan, G Armstrong, F Huppert, C Brayne and W Solomou
Objective: to compare exercise levels, and dietary
intake of fruit and vegetables in representative samples of healthy elderly
people living in rural and urban areas.Design: rural
Cambridgeshire and urban Nottingham, UK.Participants:
2041 respondents (1021 in Cambridgeshire; 1020 in Nottingham) sampled from
general practitioner lists.Main outcome measures:
self-rated reports of health, exercise and food
frequency.Results: within these samples of healthy
elderly people, those living in rural Cambridgeshire were significantly
more likely to consume fresh fruit [odds ratio (OR) = 1.81, 95% confidence
interval (CI) = 1.52-2.16, P < 0.001] and green
vegetables (OR = 3.70, 95% CI = 3.07-4.45, P <
0.001) daily in both the summer and winter months. While overall levels of
activity were similar for both groups, the structure of activities
differed, with the urban sample reporting significantly greater time spent
walking.Conclusions: against current World Health
Organisation recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption,
respondents in rural areas reported a substantially 'healthier' diet than
their urban peers. On the other hand, urban elderly people may enjoy
greater cardiovascular protection from greater time spent
walking.Keywords: ageing, diet, exercise, health,
rural, urban
ARTICLES
Health ageing in urban and rural Britain: a comparison of exercise and diet
Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Leics LE11 3TU, UK; Institute of General Practice and Primary Care, Sheffield University, School of Health and Related Research, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK; Department of Community Medicine, Institute of Public Health and Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Corresponding author; e-mail: k.morgan@boro.ac.k
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