Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases · Dec 24, 2025

Impact of dietary counselling on cardiometabolic health, mental health and dietary quality in Singapore older women

By Ting M, Low JHM, Lee DPS et al.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Provision of dietary counselling has been shown to improve dietary quality, cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) and mental health, but these beneficial effects are not well studied in Asian older women. Thus, this study aimed to assess the impact of dietary counselling on CMRF, mental health parameters and dietary quality in Singapore older women. METHODS AND RESULTS: This was a 12-week, parallel design, randomized controlled trial and 39 older women (mean age of 67.5 years old) recruited from a senior activity center in Singapore were randomized to the control group (n = 19) or the intervention group (n = 20). Only subjects in the intervention group received high intensity dietary counselling for 12 weeks while the control group maintained their lifestyle. Dietary quality based on the alternate healthy eating index (AHEI)-2010 score, anthropometric measurement, CMRF and mental health parameters were measured at Week 0 and Week 12. Albeit no major changes in CMRF observed; the control group showed increase in blood Nε-(1-carboxymethyl)-l-lysine (CML) levels, which is a well-characterized advanced glycation end product (AGE), while intervention group showed a decrease, and net changes were significantly different between groups. Additionally, the intervention group also showed decrease in depressive symptoms. Overall, no changes in dietary quality was observed. CONCLUSION: The provision of dietary counselling may be a viable nutritional strategy in regulating AGE levels and potentially reducing cardiometabolic disease risk with improving mental health in Singapore older women. REGISTRATION NUMBER OF CLINICAL TRIAL: Registered in clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03702335 and approved by the National University of Singapore Institutional Review Board (IRB H-18-040).

doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2025.104536PubMed 41622098Interventions