Social isolation linked to poorer diet in older women

Social isolation linked to poorer diet in older women | Image Credit: © nadianb - © nadianb - stock.adobe.com.

Social isolation linked to poorer diet quality

The risk of poorer diet quality is increased in older women experiencing social isolation, according to a recent study published by the University of British Columbia.¹

Data from 30,097 adults across 6 years was obtained from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CSLA). Based on the data, participating in a variety of activity such as volunteering, attending club meetings, playing sports, and visiting friends led to an increase in diet quality.

“We know social isolation reduces life expectancy, but most studies capture it at a single point,” said Annalijn Conklin, MPH, PhD, senior author and associate professor at UBC’s faculty of pharmaceutical sciences. “We wanted to understand the effects of persistent or changing isolation over time.”

Diet quality assessment criteria

CSLA participants with self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption at least once per day at baseline and available social participation and covariate data were included in the analysis.² An adverse shift from healthful eating at this time to less healthful eating at wave 3 was reported as the primary outcome.

Less healthful eating was defined as fruit and vegetable intake of less than once per day. Diet data was obtained from a 36-item food frequency questionnaire that included 5 relevant questions about fruit, green vegetables, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables.

Healthful eating, defined as at least daily fruit and vegetable intake, was reported based on frequency instead of size. Response options included daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Extreme values of fruit or vegetable intake were excluded from the analysis.

Social participation data collection

CSLA data about social activities in the past year was also available. This was collected through a question asking, “In the past 12 months, how often did you participate in [family, religious, sports, educational/cultural, social clubs, charity, neighborhood, and other recreational activities]?”

Responses of at least once a month were coded as 1, while those of less than monthly were coded as 0. The number of activities at waves 1 and 2 were compiled to determine a total activity score, with an upper extreme of 5 or more activities per month.

Investigators also measured a social isolation transition variable with classifications of remained not isolated, remained isolated, became isolated, and became not isolated. Covariates included age, body mass index, chronic conditions, education, household income, wealth, rural vs urban status, sleep, and provincial factors.

Participant demographics and diet trends

A mean 70.21 months passed between CLSA waves 1 and 3. Additionally, a mean age of 62 years and female population of 59% was reported for the smallest analytic sample of vegetable outcomes. Of women and men, 91.64% and 89.53%, respectively, remained not socially isolated between waves, but 5.6% and 7.2%, respectively, experienced adverse transitions.

Development of less healthful eating was reported in approximately 1 in 5 patients. Vegetable intake of less than once per day was reported in 23% and fruit intake of less than once per day by 17%.

Impact of social isolation on diet

Among women remaining social isolated, an odds ratio (OR) of 1.85 was reported for new-onset non-daily vegetable intake, indicated an increased risk of 85%. For those who became not socially isolated, the OR was 1.38.

These links were only observed among women, with no association reported for men. However, ORs of 1.30 and 1.29 were reported for women and men, respectively, maintaining less diverse social participation, highlighting, increased risks of new-onset non-daily vegetable intake among both populations.

Similarly, subsequent non-daily fruit intake was reported among women with certain social isolation transitions. Among those remaining socially isolated, an OR of 2.23 was reported, highlighting an over 2-fold increase in risk. When becoming not socially isolated, the OR was 1.77. No associations were reported among men.

Implications

These results indicated links between social isolation and breadth of social participation with healthful eating among aging adults. Impacts were noted for both the persistent lack and loss of diversity in social activities.

“The complexity of changes in the social environment on changes in diet among aging adults requires further investigation, especially through a gender lens,” concluded investigators.

References

1. Social isolation linked to poor diet in older women. University of British Columbia. April 11, 2025. Accessed April 21, 2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1080241.
2. Mehranfar S, Ceolin G, Madani Civi R, et al. Gender, adverse changes in social engagement and risk of unhealthy eating: A prospective cohort study of the Canadian longitudinal study on aging (2011–2021). Nutrients. 2025; 17(6):1005. doi:10.3390/nu17061005