Micronutrient Deficiencies in Patients With Heart Failure: Relationships With Body Mass Index and Age

•Dietary intakes and physical activity were quantified in patients with heart failure.•Inadequate micronutrient intakes were highly prevalent in all patients.•Lean younger patients were at especially high risk for inadequate intakes.•Physical activity levels were low but did not differ according to BMI and age groups.•Further research is needed to determine if micronutrient deficiencies affect prognosis.

BackgroundIt is conceivable that lean patients (body mass index 18.5–24.9 kg/m2) with heart failure (HF) have low body weight due to low food consumption and that this may contribute to micronutrient deficiencies and to their poorer prognosis compared with overweight/obese patients. We hypothesized that lean patients have a greater number of inadequate micronutrient intakes (<50% of recommendations) than overweight/obese patients and that this also depends on age.Methods and ResultsLean (n = 15) and overweight/obese (n = 49) patients underwent 24-hour diet and physical activity recall interviews. Inadequate essential micronutrient intakes were ubiquitous (intakes of 13 ± 1 of 27 micronutrients were inadequate) and did not depend on race, status, or access to supermarkets. Younger (40–64 y) lean patients had inadequate intakes of 20 ± 2 micronutrients, which was more than the other weight/age subgroups (all P < .01). Physical activity levels did not differ across weight and age groups.ConclusionsPatients with HF may be at risk of malnutrition due to numerous inadequate micronutrient intakes; younger lean patients may have an especially high risk. Future studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings and to investigate the possibility that incorporating a micronutrient-dense meal plan will improve patient outcomes.