The Relationship of Pork Meat Consumption with Nutrient Intakes, Diet Quality, and Biomarkers of Health Status in Korean Older Adults.

BACKGROUND

Pork meat is a widely consumed protein food with the potential to differentially affect health and nutritional status across social and cultural contexts.

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated the association between pork meat consumption and nutrient intake, diet quality, and biomarkers of health among older adults (age ≥ 65 years) in Korea.

METHODS

Our analyses utilized dietary and health examination data from the 2016-2020 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ( = 2068). Comparisons between variables derived from the nutrition survey and health examination by pork consumption (consumers vs. non-consumers) were assessed using regression analyses for survey data.

RESULTS

Pork consumption was found to be associated with younger age, greater educational attainment, and lower likelihood of living in a rural area. Consumption was also associated with a higher intake of energy and all nutrients except vitamin B6, retinol, ⍵3, and zinc in males and vitamin B6 in females. Diet quality was modestly higher among male (67.91 ± 0.93 vs. 65.74 ± 0.74; = 0.0308) and female (70.88 ± 0.96 vs. 67.00 ± 0.73; < 0.0001) pork consumers. Differences in biomarkers were clinically irrelevant, with inconsistencies between genders. Handgrip strength was slightly higher among male (33.84 ± 0.52 vs. 31.91 ± 0.40; < 0.0001) and female (20.76 ± 0.34 vs. 19.99 ± 0.22; < 0.0001) pork consumers.

CONCLUSIONS

In Korean older adults, pork consumption may contribute to a higher intake of energy and most nutrients, improved diet quality scores, higher vegetable intake, and small improvements in health biomarkers. Further well-designed studies are needed to confirm these findings.