Association between milk consumption in middle age and frailty in later life: The Aichi Workers' cohort study

Aim: Several studies have shown that dairy consumption in old age is effective in preventing frailty. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding the association between milk consumption during middle age and the development of frailty in old age. Therefore, we carried out an investigation to explore the association between milk consumption during middle age and development of frailty examined after over 15 years of follow up in a long-term cohort study in Japan. Methods: We studied 265 participants aged 60–79 years (212 men and 53 women) in 2018, who participated in both the baseline survey in 2002 and the frailty assessment in 2018. The amount of milk consumption (g/day) at baseline was age- and energy-adjusted, and classified into three categories (no, low and high consumption: 0 g/day, ≤135.86 g/day, >135.86 g/day in men and 0 g/day, ≤126.44 g/day, >126.44 g/day in women). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for prefrailty/frailty after adjusting for lifestyles at baseline, stratified by sex, were estimated using logistic regression analysis. Results: The prevalence of prefrailty/frailty in 2018 was 37.7% and 28.3% in men and women, respectively. Milk consumption categories were inversely associated with the prevalence of prefrailty/frailty in men (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14–0.84 in low consumption; OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.10–0.95 in high consumption; P < 0.05), but not in women (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.11–2.65; P = 0.44). Conclusions: In this study, milk intake in middle-aged men was inversely associated with the prevalence of prefrailty/frailty later in life. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 700–705.