Food intake patterns and cardiovascular risk factors in Japanese adults: analyses from the 2012 National Health and nutrition survey, Japan

Nay Chi Htun,Hitomi Suga,Hidemi Takimoto,Wakana Shimizu,Shino Imai

doi:10.1186/s12937-017-0284-z

Abstract

BackgroundThere is an increasing global interest in the role of Japanese diet as a possible explanation for the nation’s healthy diet, which contributes to the world’s highest life-expectancy enjoyed in Japan. However, nationwide studies on current food intake status among general Japanese population have not been established yet. This study examined the association between food intake patterns and cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) such as waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (SBP, DBP), HbA1c and blood lipid profiles among general Japanese adults.MethodsDe-identified data on the Japan National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHNS) 2012 with a total of 11,365 subjects aged 20–84 years were applied. Food intake patterns were derived by principal component analysis (PCA) based on 98 food groups. Generalized linear regression analysis was used to assess the relation between the food intake patterns and CVRF.ResultsWe identified three food intake patterns: traditional Japanese, Westernized, and meat and fat patterns. Traditional Japanese pattern was significantly related to high WC and BMI in men, and high DBP in women. Westernized pattern was associated with lower SBP, but high total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in both men and women. Meat and fat pattern was associated with high WC, high BMI, high blood pressure and blood lipid profiles in both men and women (trend P < 0.001).ConclusionThe significant association between cardiovascular disease risks and three food intake patterns derived from the NHNS, showed a similar tendency to other dietary survey methods.

Highlights

There is an increasing global interest in the role of Japanese diet as a possible explanation for the nation’s healthy diet, which contributes to the world’s highest life-expectancy enjoyed in Japan
This study aimed to explore the food intake patterns and examine their association with cardiovascular risk factors such as waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level and blood lipid profiles among 11,365 Japanese aged 20– 84 years, using the nationally representative data from Japan National Health and Nutrition Survey (J-National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHNS)) conducted in year 2012, while controlling for a wide range of potential confounding factors
A total of 11,365 subjects, 4686 men and 6679 women aged 20–84 years who had a complete data on dietary intake, lifestyle factors, anthropological and blood pressure measurements, HbA1c measured in National Glyco-hemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP) units (%), fasting blood lipid profiles [total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)] were selected

Summary

Introduction

There is an increasing global interest in the role of Japanese diet as a possible explanation for the nation’s healthy diet, which contributes to the world’s highest life-expectancy enjoyed in Japan. Htun et al Nutrition Journal (2017) 16:61 a very recent cohort study found that the food intake patterns of Japanese adults who followed the government recommended food guide for the nation (the Japanese Spinning Top Food Guide 2005) at the baseline, had lower rates of mortality than those who didn’t [11]. Another nationwide study in elderly Japanese has observed that improvement in dietary habits, such as yearly increase in vegetables and meat intake, may contribute to decreasing prevalence of anemia [12]. Overall assessment of food intake patterns, taking into account of the interactions, inter-correlations between nutrients and foods and their cumulative effects, has gained attention in the studies of the association between health and diseases [13]

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