Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Objective: We sought to determine whether daily protein intake and protein distribution across eating occasions were associated with functional disability in a national sample of older Americans. Methods: Data from 8,070 adults aged ≥60 years from the 2007-2016 waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were included. Protein intake and functional capacity was self-reported. A daily protein recommendation of ≥1.0 g/kg/day was utilized. The daily protein recommendation was then spread-out across four meals, whereby a ≥0.25 g/kg/meal threshold was used. Results: Those meeting the daily protein recommendation had 0.78 (95% confidence interval CI = 0.65, 0.93) decreased odds for functional disability. Persons meeting the protein intake threshold per eating occasion for one, two, three, and four occasions had 0.60 (CI = 0.38, 0.95), 0.48 (CI = 0.30, 0.77), 0.47 (CI = 0.29, 0.77), and 0.39 (CI = 0.20, 0.75) decreased odds for functional disability, respectively. Discussion: Protein consumption seems to be important for preserving function in older Americans.
McGrath et al. (Fri,) studied this question.