Abstract
Although several studies in Western countries show that higher socioeconomic status is associated with higher diet quality, no study has observed this association in Japan. In the current study, we examined the association between diet quality and the combinations of age, sex, and household income, and also compared the dietary intake between diet quality levels according to household income. Cross-sectional study. National Health and Nutrition Survey, Japan in 2014. 2785 men and 3215 women. Higher Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top scores (better diet quality) were observed in older women, especially those with higher household income, whereas lower scores were observed in younger men with lower household income. Those having low quality diet, especially in low income households, had higher odds of not meeting the recommended amounts of the Japanese dietary guidelines, than those having high quality diet. Diet quality in Japanese adults differed by age and sex as well as by household income level. A different approach to diet quality improvement is needed according to population characteristics including not only age and sex but also social economic status.
Highlights
We examined the association between diet quality and the combinations of age, sex, and household income levels and compared the dietary intake between diet quality levels, according to household income using the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHNS) data
The NHNS has been running since 1945, and it is an annual nationwide survey based on the Health Promotion Law (Law No 103, enacted in 2002), to assess the health status, food and nutrient intakes, and lifestyles of people living in Japan[15]
Among men in the higher-income subgroups, those with a low quality diet consumed lower amounts of grain dishes. This positive association between diet quality and intake of grain dishes was observed in women, regardless of household income level
Summary
Study procedure The current cross-sectional study was based on data from the 2014 NHNS[14] conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The two-staged cluster randomized sampling method was applied for selecting the 300 sampling units (regions) for the NHNS, to cover all the 47 prefectures (the Japanese equivalent of provinces). These 300 units were randomly selected from the approximately 1000 census enumeration areas which participated in the preceding Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions. Based on official application procedures under Article 33 of the Statistics Act, unlinked anonymized NHNS data were only obtained with permission from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Our study was conducted in accordance with the Ethical Guidelines of Epidemiological Research[16]
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