The associations of eating behavior and dietary intake with metabolic syndrome in Japanese: Saku cohort baseline study.

backgroundThe prevention of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a major public health concern in Japan. The effects of the relationship between eating behavior and nutritional intake on MetS remained unclear. To evaluate nutrition's role in preventing or exacerbating MetS, we examined the associations among eating behavior, nutritional intake, and MetS for the baseline study in the cohort subjects undergone health checkups.

methodsFour thousand and four hundred forty-seven Japanese men and women were enrolled at the Saku Central Hospital. They received an anthropometric and clinical examination and were assessed for present illness, lifestyle factors such as physical activity, smoking, drinking, and dietary habits at the enrollment. Eating behavior was analyzed by the Sakata's Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Dietary assessment was made using a brief self-administered diet history questionnaire. Two thousand and six hundred two men and 1844 women aged more than 20 were analyzed.

resultsThe mean age in men and women were 59.2 and 58.4 years old and the mean body mass index (BMI) were 23.7 and 22.3 kg/m

conclusionsThe differences in dietary intake between subjects with Mets and without Mets were relatively small. The scores of all the categories in eating behavior were worse in subjects with MetS than without MetS. It was suggested that the problem lay in the quality of diet, not in the quantity, caused by bad eating habits. The potential influence of eating behavior and nutritional intake on MetS was presented in men and women.