High fruit intake may reduce mortality among middle-aged and elderly men. The Study of Men Born in 1913

Objective: A number of long-term population-based studies have tried to stu dy fruit and vegetable consumption in relation to cardiovascular disease, c ancer and total mortality. Few of these studies are based on randomly selec ted population samples. The aim of the study was to investigate the long-te rm effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on mortality, cardiovascular d isease, cardiovascular deal, cancer morbidity and cancer death among middle -aged and elderly men. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: General community. The Study of Men Born in 1913. Subjects: 792 men at age 54 who participated in a screening examination in 1967. Main outcome measures: A food frequency questionnaire was used to obtain in formation of the dietary habits in 730 of the men (92%). All men were follo wed up with repeated examinations until the age of 80. Results: Cardiovascular as well as total mortality was significantly lower among men with high fruit consumption in univariate analysis. There was no correlation between fruit or vegetable consumption in relation to cancer in cidence, cancer death and cardiovascular disease. In multivariate survival analysis where smoking, cholesterol and hypertension were taken into accoun t: there was a significantly lower mortality among men with a high fruit co nsumption during 16 y follow up until the age of 70 (P = 0.042), but this f inding was no longer statistically significant during 26 y follow-up at the age of 80 (P = 0.051). Conclusions. Daily fruit consumption seems to have positive effect on long- term survival independently of other traditional cardiovascular risk factor s like smoking, hypertension and cholesterol. Sponsorship: This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Re search Council (K98-274-06276-17) King Gustav V and Queen Victoria's Founda tion, and the Goteborg University.