Higher Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid to Saturated Fatty Acid Ratio Is Associated With Cognition, Mobility, Nutrient Intakes, and Higher Diet Quality in Heterogeneous Older Populations.

To the Editor: Longitudinal studies suggest that nutrition plays an important role in healthy aging.1 As people age, eventually they become less active, theirmetabolism slows, and energy requirement and dietary intake decrease.2 At the same time, nutrient requirementsmayeven increase as the ability to absorb and utilizemany nutrients becomes less efficient, thus maintaining a nutrient-dense and high-quality diet is very important for the health of older individuals.2 Research has demonstrated that sufficient nutrient intake and diet quality has a huge effect on physical and cognitive functioning, cardiovascular, and immune systems.2 For the prevention of coronary heart disease, a diet with high polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids (PUFA/SFA) ratio has been recommended.3 How fat quality is associated with mobility, cognition, nutrient intake, and overall diet quality in older people has not been thoroughly studied. Therefore, we analyzed PUFA/SFA ratio and its associations with mobility, nutrition, and cognition in heterogeneous groups (home-dwelling and institutionalized) of older people.