Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a simple dietary check sheet to assess the risk of muscle mass reduction in middle-aged and older adults.
Methods: The study participants comprised 1,272 community-dwelling individuals aged 50–89 years (mean age; 68.7 years). Bioelectrical impedance analysis was performed to estimate the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (SMI, kg/m2). The SMIs were expressed as z-scores and adjusted for age and gender. A simple dietary check sheet was used to assess the daily intake of foods associated with maintaining muscle mass, such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, soybean products, and vegetables.
Results: Individuals with reduced muscle masses (SMI z-scores < –1.0) had significantly lower intakes of meat, fish, eggs, milk, and vegetables, and a lower overall dietary intake than individuals without reduced muscle masses (SMI z-scores ≥ –1.0). Food intake score was calculated to obtain quantitative estimates of the daily intake of these foods. The scores ranged from 0 to 14, with higher scores indicating higher intakes of foods that contribute to maintaining the muscle mass. Compared with the reference group with scores of ≥ 10, the groups with lower scores were at a higher risk of muscle mass reduction. The odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of the groups with scores of 9, 8, 7, 6, and ≤ 5 were 1.15 (0.42–3.13), 2.10 (0.89–4.95), 3.64 (1.61–8.23), 4.49 (1.90–10.58), and 7.53 (3.06–18.51), respectively, after adjusting for age, gender, obesity, alcohol intake, smoking, physical inactivity, hypertriglyceridemia, diabetes mellitus, and liver dysfunction.
Conclusions: As the food intake scores were significantly associated with decreased muscle mass, the proposed simple dietary check sheet may help assess the risk of muscle mass reduction in middle-aged and older adults from a nutritional perspective.
