Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Score-Based and Nutrient-Derived Dietary Patterns Are Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Older Japanese: A Cross-Sectional Study

  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

This study evaluated associations of score-based and nutrient-derived dietary patterns with depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older Japanese.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Community-based.

Participants

982 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older.

Measurements

Score-based pattern was assessed by using dietary variety score (DVS), which covers 10 food group items in Japanese meals. Nutrient-derived dietary patterns were identified by using reduced rank regression (RRR), with folate, vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc intakes as response variables. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for these dietary patterns in multivariate logistic regression analyses with potential confounders. The lowest consumption category was used as the reference group.

Results

The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 13.5%. Higher DVS was associated with fewer depressive symptoms (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.27–1.03 for the highest vs the lowest DVS; P for trend=0.031). The first RRR dietary pattern score was characterized by high intakes of fish, soybean products, potatoes, most vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, fruits, and green tea and a low intake of rice and was inversely associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms (OR=0.53, 95% CI=0.30–0.92; P for trend=0.030).

Conclusion

Greater dietary variety and a dietary pattern characterized by high intakes of fish, soybean products, potatoes, most vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, fruit, and green tea and a low intake of rice were consistently associated with lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older Japanese. Therefore, both patterns identified the components of dietary habits essential to depression prevention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. World Health Organization (2017) Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders Global Health Estimates. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/254610/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 18 March 2019

  2. Lepine JP, Briley M. The increasing burden of depression. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2011;7:3–7.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Diniz BS, Butters MA, Albert SM, Dew MA, Reynolds CF, 3rd. Late-life depression and risk of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease: systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based cohort studies. Br J Psychiatiy 2013;202:329–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Soysal P, Veronese N, Thompson T, Kahl KG, Fernandes BS, Prina AM, Solmi M, Schofield P, Koyanagi A, et al. Relationship between depression and frailty in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ageing Res Rev 2017;36:78–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Murakami K, Sasaki S. Dietary intake and depressive symptoms: a systematic review of observational studies. Mol Nutr Food Res 2010;54:471–488.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Saghafian F, Malmir H, Saneei P, Milajerdi A, Larijani B, Esmaillzadeh A. Fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of depression: accumulative evidence from an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. Br J Nutr 2018;119:1087–1101.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lai JS, Hiles S, Bisquera A, Hure AJ, McEvoy M, Attia J. A systematic review and meta-analysis of dietaiy patterns and depression in community-dwelling adults. Am J Clin Nutr 2014;99:181–197.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rahe C, Unrath M, Berger K. Dietary patterns and the risk of depression in adults: a systematic review of observational studies. Eur J Nutr 2014;53:997–1013.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hu FB. Dietary pattern analysis: a new direction in nutritional epidemiology. Curr Opin Lipidol 2002;13:3–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Tucker KL. Dietary patterns, approaches, and multicultural perspective. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2010;35:211–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture (2015) 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/. Accessed 18 March 2019

  12. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (2016). Main points of the revision of “Dietary guideline for Japanese”. http://www.maff.go.jp/j/syokuiku/attach/pdf/shishinn-3.pdf. Accessed 18 March 2019

  13. Kant AK, Schatzkin A, Harris TB, Ziegler RG, Block G. Dietary diversity and subsequent mortality in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. Am J Clin Nutr 1993;57:434–440.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Drewnowski A, Henderson SA, Driscoll A, Rolls BJ. The Dietary Variety Score: assessing diet quality in healthy young and older adults. J Am Diet Assoc 1997;97:266–271.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Bernstein MA, Tucker KL, Ryan ND, O’Neill EF, Clements KM, Nelson ME, Evans WJ, Fiatarone Singh MA. Higher dietary variety is associated with better nutritional status in frail elderly people. J Am Diet Assoc 2002;102:1096–1104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kumagai S, Watanabe S, Shibata H, Amano H, Fujiwara Y, Shinkai S, Yoshida H, Suzuki T, Yukawa H, et al. Effects of dietary variety on declines in high-level functional capacity in elderly people living in a community. Nihon koshu eisei zasshi 2003;50:1117–1124. (in Japanese)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Yokoyama Y, Nishi M, Murayama H, Amano H, Taniguchi Y, Nofuji Y, Narita M, Matsuo E, Seino S, et al. Association of Dietary Variety with Body Composition and Physical Function in Community-dwelling Elderly Japanese. J Nutr Health Aging 2016;20:691–696.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Yokoyama Y, Nishi M, Murayama H, Amano H, Taniguchi Y, Nofuji Y, Narita M, Matsuo E, Seino S, et al. Dietary Variety and Decline in Lean Mass and Physical Performance in Community-Dwelling Older Japanese: A 4-year Follow-Up Study. J Nutr Health Aging 2017;21:11–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Seino S, Nishi M, Murayama H, Narita M, Yokoyama Y, Nofuji Y, Taniguchi Y, Amano H, Kitamura A, Shinkai S. Effects of a multifactorial intervention comprising resistance exercise, nutritional and psychosocial programs on frailty and functional health in community-dwelling older adults: A randomized, controlled, cross-over trial. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017;17:2034–2045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Kimura M, Moriyasu A, Kumagai S, Furuna T, Akita S, Kimura S, Suzuki T. Community-based intervention to improve dietary habits and promote physical activity among older adults: a cluster randomized trial. BMC Geriatr 2013;13:8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hoffmann K, Schulze MB, Schienkiewitz A, Nöthlings U, Boeing H. Application of a New Statistical Method to Derive Dietary Patterns in Nutritional Epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol 2004;159:935–944.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Miki T, Kochi T, Kuwahara K, Eguchi M, Kurotani K, Tsuruoka H, Ito R, Kabe I, Kawakami N, et al. Dietary patterns derived by reduced rank regression (RRR) and depressive symptoms in Japanese employees: The Furukawa nutrition and health study. Psychiatry Res 2015;229:214–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Vermeulen E, Stronks K, Visser M, Brouwer IA, Schene AH, Mocking RJ, Colpo M, Bandinelli S, Ferrucci L, Nicolaou M. The association between dietary patterns derived by reduced rank regression and depressive symptoms over time: the Invecchiare in Chianti (InCHIANTI) study. Br J Nutr 2016;115:2145–2153.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Vermeulen E, Stronks K, Visser M, Brouwer IA, Snijder MB, Mocking RJT, Derks EM, Schene AH, Nicolaou M. Dietary pattern derived by reduced rank regression and depressive symptoms in a multi-ethnic population: the HELIUS study. Eur J Clin Nutr 2017;71:987–994.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Murayama H, Nishi M, Shimizu Y, Kim MJ, Yoshida H, Amano H, Fujiwara Y, Shinkai S. The Hatoyama Cohort Study: design and profile of participants at baseline. J Epidemiol. 2012;22:551–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Shinkai S, Yoshida H, Fujiwara Y, Amano H, Fukaya T, Ri S, Watanabe N, Watanabe S, Kumagai O, et al. A 10-year community intervention for disability prevention and its effect on healthy aging in Kusatsu town. Nihon koshu eisei zasshi 2013;60:596–605. (in Japanese)

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Burke WJ, Roccaforte WH, Wengel SP. The short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale: a comparison with the 30-item form. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1991;4:173–178.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Schreiner AS, Hayakawa H, Morimoto T, Kakuma T. Screening for late life depression: cut-off scores for the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia among Japanese subjects. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2003;18:498–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. The Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare of Japan (2006) National Health and Nutrition Survey in Japan, 2006. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/kenkou/eiyou08/01.html. Accessed 18 March 2019 (in Japanese)

  30. Kobayashi S, Murakami K, Sasaki S, Okubo H, Hirota N, Notsu A, Fukui M, Date C. Comparison of relative validity of food group intakes estimated by comprehensive and brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaires against 16 d dietary records in Japanese adults. Public Health Nutr 2011;14:1200–1211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Kobayashi S, Honda S, Murakami K, Sasaki S, Okubo H, Hirota N, Notsu A, Fukui M, Date C. Both Comprehensive and Brief Self-Administered Diet History Questionnaires Satisfactorily Rank Nutrient Intakes in Japanese Adults. J Epidemiol 2012;22:151–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Science and Technology Agency, 2010, Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan, 2010. Ministry of Education, culturem Sports, Science and Technology, Tokyo (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Miki T, Kochi T, Eguchi M, Kuwahara K, Tsuruoka H, Kurotani K, Ito R, Akter S, Kashino I, et al. Dietary intake of minerals in relation to depressive symptoms in Japanese employees: the Furukawa Nutrition and Health Study. Nutrition 2015;31:686–690.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Gilbody S, Lightfoot T, Sheldon T. Is low folate a risk factor for depression? A meta-analysis and exploration of heterogeneity. J Epidemiol Community Health 2007;61:631–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Bae YJ, Kim SK. Low dietary calcium is associated with self-rated depression in middle-aged Korean women. Nutr Res Pract 2012;6:527–533.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Jacka FN, Overland S, Stewart R, Tell GS, Bjelland I, Mykletun A. Association between magnesium intake and depression and anxiety in community-dwelling adults: the Hordaland Health Study. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2009;43:45–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Oishi J, Doi H, Kawakami N. Nutrition and Depressive Symptoms in Community-dwelling Elderly Persons in Japan. Acta Med Okayama 2008;63:9–17.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Vashum KP, McEvoy M, Milton AH, McElduff P, Hure A, Byles J, Attia J. Dietary zinc is associated with a lower incidence of depression: findings from two Australian cohorts. J Affect Disord 2014;166:249–257.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Woo J, Lynn H, Lau WY, Leung J, Lau E, Wong SY, Kwok T. Nutrient intake and psychological health in an elderly Chinese population. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2006;21:1036–1043.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Murakami K, Mizoue T, Sasaki S, Ohta M, Sato M, Matsushita Y, Mishima N. Dietary intake of folate, other B vitamins, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in relation to depressive symptoms in Japanese adults. Nutrition 2008;24:140–147.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Parletta N, Milte CM, Meyer BJ. Nutritional modulation of cognitive function and mental health. J Nutr Biochem 2013;24:725–743.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Otsuka R, Kato Y, Nishita Y, Tange C, Tomida M, Nakamoto M, Imai T, Ando F, Shimokata H. Age-related Changes in Energy Intake and Weight in Community-dwelling Middle-aged and Elderly Japanese. J Nutr Health Aging 2016;20:383–390.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Otsuka R, Nishita Y, Tange C, Tomida M, Kato Y, Imai T, Ando F, Shimokata H. Age-Related 12-Year Changes in Dietary Diversity and Food Intakes among Community-Dwelling Japanese Aged 40 to 79 Years. J Nutr Health Aging 2018;22:594–600.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to the study participants and to the staff of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology for their cooperation in this study, and to Professor Toshiharu Ninomiya and Mio Ozawa, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, for their helpful comments and assistance with the RRR method. This research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grants JP 20390190, JP 21390212, JP 24390173 and JP18K17994 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, by research grants from the Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX), by the Japan Science and Technology Agency, and by the towns of Hatoyama and Kusatsu.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, 35-2, Sakaecho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-0015, Japan

    Yuri Yokoyama, A. Kitamura, T. Yoshizaki, M. Nishi, S. Seino, Y. Taniguchi, H. Amano, M. Narita & S. Shinkai

  2. Department of Food and Life Sciences, Faculty of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Toyo University, 1-1-1, Izumino, Itakura-machi, Ora-gun, Gunma, 374-0193, Japan

    T. Yoshizaki

Authors
  1. Yuri Yokoyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Kitamura
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. Yoshizaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Nishi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. S. Seino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Y. Taniguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. H. Amano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. M. Narita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. S. Shinkai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuri Yokoyama.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Standards: The ethics committee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology approved this study, which complies with the current laws of Japan.

Conflicts of interest: None of the authors has a conflict of interest to declare.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yokoyama, Y., Kitamura, A., Yoshizaki, T. et al. Score-Based and Nutrient-Derived Dietary Patterns Are Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Older Japanese: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Nutr Health Aging 23, 896–903 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1238-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1238-2

Key words

Search

Navigation