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Dietary fat intake not associated with age-related maculopathy, study says
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MADISON, Wis. — Age-related maculopathy was not significantly associated with dietary fat in a large-scale study based here.
Researchers in the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey used a single, nonmydriatic fundus photograph of one eye to ascertain age-related maculopathy (ARM) in 7,883 survey participants 40 years of age or older. Dietary fat intake was estimated from 24-hour recall, and specific sources of dietary fat were estimated from responses to food frequency questionnaires.
People aged 40 years to 79 years (7,405) were included in analysis for early ARM. Those aged 60 years or older (4,294) were included in analysis for late ARM. After adjustments for age, race, eye color and sedentary lifestyle, the odds ratio for early ARM was 1.4 among people in high quintiles versus low quintiles of total fat intake (P for trend, .1). Associations for specific types of fatty acids were in the same direction and unrelated to ARM. The odds ratio for late ARM was 0.7 (P for trend, .6).
The study appears in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.