2010 Volume 60 Issue 2 Pages 128-138
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the number of masticatory cycles and estimated food and nutrient intake in elderly Japanese. The subjects were 349 patients (182 males and 167 females) aged 75 years in Niigata prefecture who participated in a dental examination, measurement of masticatory cycles, and a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire (BDHQ) in 2003. In the measurement of masticatory cycles, patients were instructed to chew 2 pieces of rice cracker (a rice cracker 4cm in diameter was broken into 2 pieces). The number of masticatory cycles was counted by observing the movement of the mental region. The patients were asked to raise their hands upon initial swallowing, and the number of masticatory cycles before the first swallowing was used as the masticatory cycles. Food and nutrient intake was calculated using the program for BDHQ. The relationship between the masticatory cycles and estimated food and nutrient intake was evaluated using multiple linear regression analysis, after simultaneously adjusting for sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, the number of teeth present, the usage of dentures, and masticatory function. The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that patients with a greater number of masticatory cycles had a significantly higher intake of seafood (p=0.041), and milk (p=0.029) and significantly smaller intake of snacks (p=0.007) as food, and significantly higher intake of total protein (p=0.001), animal protein (p=0.001), calcium (p=0.008), phosphorus (p=0.001), zinc (p=0.009), vitamin D (p=0.001), vitamin B_2 (p=0.010), vitamin B_6 (p=0.031), vitamin B_<12> (p=0.004), pantothenic acid (p=0.001), and cholesterol (p=0.034). The results of the present study suggested that the elderly with more masticatory cycles have higher seafood and milk intake, and lower snack intake as food, and higher intake of protein, mineral, vitamins and cholesterol as nutrients.
