To examine associations of dietary variety with changes in lean mass and physical performance during a 4-year period in an elderly Japanese population. Design: Four-year prospective study.

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Background: This 3.6-year prospective study examined combined impacts of physical activity, dietary variety, and social interaction on incident disability and estimated population-attributable fraction for disability reduction in older adults.Methods: Participants were 7,822 initially non-disabled residents (3,966 men; 3,856 women) aged 65–84 years of Ota City, Tokyo, Japan. Sufficiency of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) ≥150 min/week, dietary variety score (DVS) ≥3 (median), and social interaction (face-to-face and/or non-face-to-face) ≥1 time/week was assessed using self-administered questionnaires. Disability incidence was prospectively identified using the long-term care insurance system’s nationally unified database.Results: During a follow-up of 3.6 years, 1,046 (13.4%) individuals had disabilities. Independent multivariate-hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals of MVPA, DVS, and social interaction sufficiency for incident disability were 0.68 (0.59–0.78), 0.87 (0.77–0.99), and 0.91 (0.79–1.03), respectively. Incident disability HRs (95% CIs) gradually reduced with increased frequency of satisfying these behaviors (any one: 0.82, 0.65–1.03; any two: 0.65, 0.52–0.82; and all three behaviors: 0.54, 0.43–0.69), in an inverse dose-response manner (P < 0.001 for trend). Population-attributable fraction for disability reduction in satisfying any one, any two, and all three behaviors were 4.0% (–0.2, 7.9), 9.6% (4.8–14.1), and 16.0% (8.7–22.8), respectively.Conclusion: Combining active physical activity, dietary variety, and social interaction substantially enhances the impacts on preventing disability among older adults, with evidence of an inverse dose-response manner. Adding the insufficient behavior element to individual habits and preexisting social group activities may be effective in preventing disability in the community.

Objectives This study evaluated associations of score-based and nutrient-derived dietary patterns with depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older Japanese. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Community-based. Participants 982 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older. Measurements Score-based pattern was assessed by using dietary variety score (DVS), which covers 10 food group items in Japanese meals. Nutrient-derived dietary patterns were identified by using reduced rank regression (RRR), with folate, vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc intakes as response variables. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for these dietary patterns in multivariate logistic regression analyses with potential confounders. The lowest consumption category was used as the reference group. Results The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 13.5%. Higher DVS was associated with fewer depressive symptoms (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.27–1.03 for the highest vs the lowest DVS; P for trend=0.031). The first RRR dietary pattern score was characterized by high intakes of fish, soybean products, potatoes, most vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, fruits, and green tea and a low intake of rice and was inversely associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms (OR=0.53, 95% CI=0.30–0.92; P for trend=0.030). Conclusion Greater dietary variety and a dietary pattern characterized by high intakes of fish, soybean products, potatoes, most vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, fruit, and green tea and a low intake of rice were consistently associated with lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older Japanese. Therefore, both patterns identified the components of dietary habits essential to depression prevention.

Background: Diet is a modifiable factor affecting sarcopenia, and accumulating evidence links dietary factors to muscle mass, strength, and function in older adults. However, few studies have examined the association of dietary patterns with sarcopenia. This study examined the association of dietary patterns derived by reduced-rank regression (RRR) with sarcopenia and its components in community-dwelling older Japanese. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1606 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older. Dietary intake was assessed by a validated, self-administered diet history questionnaire. Nutrient-derived dietary patterns were identified by using RRR, with sarcopenia-related nutrients (protein, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E, folate, vitamin K, magnesium, iron, and calcium intakes) as response variables. Sarcopenia was defined by using the algorithm of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019. Multivariate regression and logistic regression were used to examine the association of dietary patterns with sarcopenia and its components. Results: The first RRR dietary pattern was characterized by high intakes of fish, soybean products, potatoes, most vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, and fruit and a low intake of rice and was associated with decreased prevalence of sarcopenia: the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio of sarcopenia was 0.57 (95% confidence interval, 0.34–0.94; p for trend=0.022) in the highest versus the lowest tertile of dietary pattern. This dietary pattern was also significantly positively associated with usual gait speed (β: 0.02, p=0.024). Conclusions: A dietary pattern characterized by high intakes of fish, soybean products, potatoes, most vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, and fruits and low rice intake was inversely associated with sarcopenia in community-dwelling older Japanese.