Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul 4;15(13):3034.
doi: 10.3390/nu15133034.

Cross-Sectional Association between Estimated Hardness of the Habitual Diet and Depressive Symptoms in Older Japanese Men

Aya Fujiwara  1   2 , Ami Fukunaga  1   3 , Kentaro Murakami  4 , Yosuke Inoue  1 , Tohru Nakagawa  5 , Shuichiro Yamamoto  4 , Maki Konishi  1 , Tetsuya Mizoue  1
Affiliations

Cross-Sectional Association between Estimated Hardness of the Habitual Diet and Depressive Symptoms in Older Japanese Men

Aya Fujiwara et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between dietary hardness and depressive symptoms in older Japanese men. Participants were 1487 men aged 60-69 years enrolled in the baseline survey of the Hitachi Health Study II (2017-2020). Habitual dietary intake was estimated by a brief-type, self-administered diet history questionnaire. Dietary hardness was defined as the magnitude of masticatory muscle activity necessary to consume solid foods. The participants who scored ≥ 9 points on a short version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale were considered to have depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 12.7%. The ORs (95% CIs) for depressive symptoms in the third tertile of dietary hardness were significantly lower after adjustment for sociodemographic and lifestyle-related variables and mood-modulating nutrients (ORs [95% CIs]: 0.93 [0.63, 1.36] and 0.58 [0.35, 0.97] for the second and third tertile, respectively [p-value for trend = 0.04]). Dietary hardness was inversely associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms in older Japanese men. Future studies should confirm these findings and clarify the role of consuming a hard diet in preventing depressive disorders.

Keywords: Japan; chewing; depressive disorder; dietary hardness; mastication.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of participants included in the present analysis: Hitachi Health Study II.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. The Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations World Population Prospects. 2022. [(accessed on 21 May 2023)]. Available online: https://population.un.org/wpp/
    1. Dang L., Ananthasubramaniam A., Mezuk B. Spotlight on the Challenges of Depression Following Retirement and Opportunities for Interventions. Clin. Interv. Aging. 2022;17:1037–1056. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S336301. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cole M.G., Dendukuri N. Risk Factors for Depression among Elderly Community Subjects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Am. J. Psychiatry. 2003;160:1147–1156. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.6.1147. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network Global Burden of Disease. 2019. [(accessed on 21 May 2023)]. Available online: https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/
    1. Paluska S.A., Schwenk T.L. Physical Activity and Mental Health. Sport. Med. 2000;29:167–180. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200029030-00003. - DOI - PubMed