Having few remaining teeth is associated with a low nutrient intake and low serum albumin levels in middle-aged and older Japanese individuals: findings from the NIPPON DATA2010.

BACKGROUND: Oral health is thought to be associated with diet quality, and socioeconomic status (SES) affects both oral health and diet. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the number of teeth and dietary intake as well as nutritional biomarker, considering the subjects' SES. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from 2049 individuals aged ≥ 50 years from the National Integrated Project for Prospective Observation of Non-communicable Disease and its Trends in the Aged 2010. The number of remaining teeth was categorized into age-specific quartiles (Q1 to Q4). We assessed the adjusted means and 95% confidence intervals for dietary variables by the number of teeth using analysis of covariance. Stratified analyses by SES were also conducted. RESULTS: The intake of grain products was 31 g higher, and those of vegetables and meat were 30 g and 8 g lower, respectively, in Q1 (fewer teeth) than in Q4 (more teeth). Carbohydrate intake was higher whereas protein, minerals (potassium, magnesium, and zinc), vitamins (vitamins A, E, B1, B6, ß-carotene, and folic acid), and dietary fiber intakes were lower among individuals with fewer teeth. Adjusted mean serum albumin levels were low in Q1. The associations between the number of teeth and dietary intake were more evident in individuals with a low SES. CONCLUSIONS: Having few remaining teeth was associated with a low nutrient intake and low serum albumin levels in middle-aged and older Japanese adults, and these associations were more evident in individuals with low SES.

Relationships among Food Group Intakes, Household Expenditure, and Education Attainment in a General Japanese Population: NIPPON DATA2010.

BACKGROUND: A lower socioeconomic status (SES) may be related to the intake of unhealthy food; however, this relationship has not been examined in detail. This study was undertaken to examine relationships among food group intakes and SES in a representative Japanese population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study using the baseline data of NIPPON DATA2010, which is a prospective cohort study of the National Health and Nutrition Survey in Japan. A total of 2,898 participants were included in the baseline survey in 2010. The effects of age (<65 years and ≥65 years), equivalent household expenditure (EHE), and education attainment on food group intakes (gram per 1,000 kcal) were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance. RESULTS: When EHE was lower, cereal intake was higher in men and women. Among men, fish, milk, and alcohol intakes were reduced with lower EHE. Among women, vegetable intake was reduced with lower EHE. In men and women, cereal intake was higher with lower education attainment. In contrast, meat intake was reduced with lower education attainment. CONCLUSIONS: Lower SES was associated with a higher cereal intake and lower vegetable, fish, meat, and milk intakes in a representative Japanese population. Socioeconomic discrepancies need to be considered in order to promote healthier dietary habits.

Consumption of dairy products and death from cardiovascular disease in the Japanese general population: the NIPPON DATA80.

BACKGROUND: Recent Western studies show an inverse association between milk and dairy product intake and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We studied the association between consumption of milk and dairy products and CVD death in Japan. METHODS: Men and women aged 30 years or older were followed for 24 years. All had participated in a national nutrition survey in 300 health districts throughout Japan in 1980. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess mortality risk according to tertiles of milk and dairy product intake, with the high consumption group as reference. Hazard ratios (HRs) per 100-g/day increase in consumption were also estimated. RESULTS: During the 24-year follow-up period, there were 893 CVD deaths, 174 deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD), and 417 stroke deaths among 9243 participants. For women, the HRs for death from CVD, CHD, and stroke in the low consumption group were 1.27 (95% CI: 0.99-1.58; P for trend = 0.045), 1.67 (0.99-2.80; P = 0.02), and 1.34 (0.94-1.90; P = 0.08), respectively, after adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol drinking habits, history of diabetes, use of antihypertensives, work category, and total energy intake. With each 100-g/day increase in consumption of milk and dairy products, HRs tended to decrease for deaths from CVD (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.74-0.99), CHD (0.73; 0.52-1.03), and stroke (0.81; 0.65-1.01) in women. No significant association was observed in men. CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of milk and dairy products was inversely associated with CVD death among women in Japan.

Association between food group intake and serum total cholesterol in the Japanese population: NIPPON DATA 80/90.

BACKGROUND: Dietary habit is one of the important determinants of health. Investigation of the association between diet and blood lipids at the food product level is more advantageous than that at the nutrient level because the results can be applied more directly to improving dietary habits for disease prevention. METHODS: The integrated datasets of the NIPPON DATA and National Nutrition Surveys in Japan conducted in 1980 and 1990 were used for analysis. The association between serum total cholesterol concentration and food group intake was examined by multiple linear regression analysis separately for sex and survey year with data adjusted for age, body mass index and total energy intake. RESULTS: Intakes of rice, sugar, sweets and snacks, fruit and vegetables other than green and yellow ones were lower and intakes of green and yellow vegetables, mushrooms, seaweed, eggs and milk were higher in the 1990 survey than in the 1980 survey. Intakes of meat, milk and eggs showed a positive association with serum total cholesterol concentration in both sexes while intake of legumes showed a negative association only in men in both the 1980 and 1990 surveys. CONCLUSIONS: Sex- and age-specific food group intakes for 1980 and 1990 were identified, and positive and negative associations between serum total cholesterol concentration and food group intake were revealed in a representative sample of the Japanese population. The results provide some insights into the improvements in dietary habits that can be made for disease prevention in Japan.

[School-attendance problems, subjective symptoms and lifestyle factors: the Shizuoka health and lifestyle survey of students].

PURPOSE: This cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the prevalence of students with a sense of not wishing to-attend school, and associations with subjective symptoms and lifestyle factors. METHODS: The database of the Shizuoka health and lifestyle survey of students conducted in November 2003 was used. The subjects were 5448 elementary, junior high and high school students and 1051 caregivers of elementary school students. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to obtain infiromation on non-willingness to-attend school, subjective symptoms and lifestyle factors for students and lifestyle factors for caregivers. RESULTS: Valid responses were obtained from 2675 elementary school students, 940 junior high school students, 1377 high school students and 659 caregivers. The prevalence of students who experienced unwillingness to attend school in males was 11.4% in elementary schools, 12.1% in junior high schools and 25.3% in high schools. The prevalences in females were 9.8%, 19.6% and 35.9%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis with such unwillingness as the objective variable and subjective symptoms and lifestyle factors as the explanatory variables, stratified by school and sex, adjusted for school grade in elementary schools, showed significantly high odds ratios (ORs) for reduction of vitality (OR: 3.68-8.22), irritable moods (OR: 3.00-6.30), feelings of fatigue and weariness (OR: 3.63-5.10) and difficulty waking up in the morning (OR: 1.98-2.69) in each school and sex, with an additional strong tendency for weight loss (OR: 1.83-2.97), with insignificantly high OR of boys in junior high schools (OR: 2.09, 95% Confidence interval: 0.95-4.60). No significant association was found between unwillingness to attend school in elementary school students with the lifestyle factors of their caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: There was no gender difference in the prevalence of students with feeleings of unwillingness to attend school in elementary school students, but figures were higher in females than in males for junior high and high school students. This was associated with the same subjective symptoms as those observed for students actually not attending school.

[Red blood cell deformability in relation to gender, age, blood pressure, obesity, serum lipids, alcohol consumption and smoking].

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of environmental factors on abnormalities in red blood cell deformability (RBCD), which may play an important role in the development of cardiovascular diseases, a cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in healthy subjects. METHOD: The subjects were 350 males (mean age 52.7 +/- 10.3 SD) and 364 females (52.6 +/- 10.4) who participated in a health check program in the town of Akabane, Japan, in 1995-1998. Blood and serum were obtained to determine the values of RBCD and TP, TG, TCHOL, and HDLC. The inverse of RBCD (RBCDI, ms-1) was used as an indicator of RBCD. The subjects were also investigated for drinking and smoking habits, BMI, and SBP. Males and females were stratified into tertiles for each variable except drinking and smoking. For those exceptions, male subjects were stratified into three groups according to alcohol consumption (non-drinkers, moderate drinkers (up to 27 ml pure ethanol per day), and habitual drinkers (28 ml or more per day)) and according to tobacco use (non-smokers, mild smokers (equal or fewer than 20 cigarettes per day), and heavy smokers, (more than 20)). Each stratum was further divided into two groups according to age (younger, < 50 years; older, > or = 50 years). RESULTS: The mean value of RBCDI was significantly higher in males (1.041 +/- 0.135 SD) than in females (1.013 +/- 0.113). RBCDI declined with age in both genders. In analyses of variance, the averages of RBCDI decreased as TP increased in all ages and in both genders and as TCHOL increased in older males. With regard to alcohol consumption, the averages of RBCDI were the highest in moderate drinkers in younger males. Multiple linear regression analyses showed negative correlations between RBCDI values and age, TP or TCHOL values, and showed positive correlations between RBCDI values and BMI in males as well as negative correlations between RBCDI values and age and TP in females. When alcohol drinking was entered into the model, the statistical significance between TCHOL and RBCDI disappeared in males. No apparent relations between smoking habit and levels of SBP and TG to RBCDI were found. CONCLUSIONS: RBCDI was higher in males than in females and higher in the younger group than in the older group. This study suggested that TCHOL may lower RBCDI and moderate drinking may improve it. Further epidemiological study is required to clarify these relationships.