ASSOCIATION OF DIET AND OTHER LIFE-STYLE WITH ONSET OF MENOPAUSE IN JAPANESE WOMEN

Objectives: To evaluate the cross-sectional relationships of dietary a nd other lifestyle variables to menopause. Mothods: A total of 4186 fe male residents aged 45-55 in Takayama City, Japan, responded to a self -administered questionnaire (the response rate was 89.3%). Diet in the past year was assessed by semiquantitative food frequency questionnai re. Using the logistic regression model, associations between study va riables and menopausal status were estimated in terms of odds ratio (O R). Results: Nulliparity and lower relative weight were significantly associated with menopause after controlling for age (P<0.05). The asso ciation of smoking with menopause was marginally significant after con trolling for age (P = 0.06). Higher intakes of fat, cholesterol, and c offee were inversely and significantly associated with later menopause after controlling for age, total energy, parity, menarche age, and re lative weight (ORs for the highest tertiles of fat, cholesterol and co ffee intakes were 0.78, 0.79, and 0.70, respectively, P < 0.05). The h ighest tertiles of calcium and soy product intakes were significantly associated with menopause after controlling for the covariates (ORs = 1.25 and 1.42, respectively, P < 0.05), but postmenopausal women who h ad menopause at later age showed higher calcium intake than those who had menopause at early age. Conclusion: Dietary factors appear to be a ssociated with onset of menopause. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland L td. All rights reserved.