Abstract
Objectives: We examined the relationships among masticatory ability, physical fitness, and dietary habits of the general public.
Methods: Masticatory ability using a chewing-gum method and handgrip strength measurements were obtained from 2, 104 subjects aged 3 to 97 years old (767 males, 1, 337 females). We then analyzed the relationships among masticatory ability, handgrip strength (as an index of physical fitness), and dietary habits with the latter data collected from a questionnaire regarding diet over 3 days collected from 57 of the subjects (21 males, 36 female)
Results: Masticatory ability was significantly correlated to handgrip strength (male: r =0.492, p < 0.001, female: r = 0.481, p<0.001), and a significant difference was found between subjects who exercised habitually and those who did not exercise habitually (male: p <0.05, female: p <0.001, ×2 -test). From the self-reported dietary questionnaire, the numbers of different foods ingested per day were totalled and percentage of hard foods was calculated. We found a slight correlation between the number of different foods ingested during breakfast (r = 0.364, p <0.05) and masticatory ability whereas there was no relationship between masticatory ability and the percentage of hard foods consumed.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that the correlation between masticatory ability and physical fitness is higher than between masticatory ability and dietary habits, and we concluded that exercise is very important to maintain or improve masticatory ability. It was also suggested that it is more important to ingest a variety of foods, especially during breakfast, rather than only hard food.
