We examined associations between dietary diversity and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in 386 men and 413 women (age range, 60–79 years at baseline) who took part in the National Institute for Longevity Sciences-Longitudinal Study of Aging study from 1997 to 2000. Dietary intake was assessed using three-day dietary records and photographs. The Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity was used to determine the dietary diversity among thirteen food groups. Dietary diversity score and each food intake were examined by sex-stratified tertiles, and hazard ratios (HR) were calculated to compare the risk for all-cause and cause-specific deaths across tertiles, after controlling for age, sex, body mass index, alcohol intake, smoking status, education, physical activity, and disease history. During a mean follow-up of 15.7 years, 289 subjects (36.2%) died. Compared to the subjects in the lowest tertile, the multivariate-adjusted HR for all-cause and cancer mortality was 0.69 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.51–0.94) and 0.57 (95% CI: 0.33–0.98), respectively (trend p < 0.05), in subjects in the highest tertile of dietary diversity. There were no significant associations between dietary diversity score and death from cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease. Eating a variety of foods might contribute to longevity in older Japanese community dwellers.

This study attempts to describe trends in energy intake and weight change over 12 years according to age at first participation in the study.

We created a Traditional Japanese Diet Score (TJDS), and to clarify the relationship between TJDS and obesity, ischemic heart disease (IHD), and healthy life expectancy (HALE).

The associations between meat/fish consumption, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)/eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) intakes, and blood DHA/EPA levels, and mortality in Japan were examined as part of the National Institute for Longevity Sciences-Longitudinal Study of Aging: 520 men and 534 women (60–79 years at baseline) were followed from 1997–2017. Nutritional intakes were assessed using a 3-day dietary record and fasting venous blood samples were collected. Serum EPA/DHA concentrations, the EPA/arachidonic acid (ARA) ratio, EPA/DHA intakes, and fish/meat intakes were examined in tertiles as indicator variables, and hazard ratios (HR) were calculated to compare the risk of death across tertiles controlling for sex, age, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol drinking, physical activity, education, employment, and history of diseases. During follow-up (mean 11.7 years), 422 subjects (40.4%) died. The multivariate-adjusted HR for all-cause mortality in subjects in the highest tertile of serum DHA and EPA/ARA ratio was 0.73 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.53–0.99) and 0.71 (95% CI: 0.53–0.96) compared with subjects in the lowest tertile, respectively (trend p < 0.05). There were no significant associations between mortality and serum EPA/ARA and DHA/EPA intakes. An increased serum DHA level or EPA/ARA ratio might be recommended for longevity to Japanese community dwellers.