Objectives: The first objective of this study was to classify men aged 40-74 yrs with metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to daily rice intake, and the second was to investigate physical measurements, physiological examinations, blood biochemical assays, intake of food other than rice and lifestyle and environmental factors in the study group.
Methods: We analyzed data from 6095 men aged 40-74 yrs who had undergone full medical examinations. The men were classified into 3 age groups: (1) 40-49 yrs, (2) 50-59 yrs, and (3) 60-74 yrs. The men were classified further into 3 groups according to daily rice intake: group 1 (≤300 g), group 2 (300-450 g), and group 3 (≥450 g). The relationship between daily rice intake and the following factors was analyzed in the three age brackets: (1) physical measurements including waist circumference, (2) physiological measurements, (3) serum biochemical indices, (4) whether or not the person was taking medication for hypertension, diabetes mellitus or serum lipid abnormalities, (5) lifestyle, and (6) consumption of foods other than rice.
Results: Daily rice intake was related strongly to the occurrence of MetS in all three age brackets. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed (1) a significant increase in the odds ratio for MetS (1.461 times) for group 3 compared with group 1 in men aged 40-49 yrs and (2) a significant increase in the odds ratio for MetS (1.501 times) for group 3 compared with group 1 in men aged 50-59 yrs. However, there was no significant difference in the odds ratio for MetS among rice intake groups in the 60-74 age bracket.
Conclusion: In men aged 40-59 yrs, daily rice intake strongly influenced the incidence of MetS, whereas in men aged 60-74 yrs, there was no relationship between daily rice intake and MetS.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate regional differences in the standard mortality ratio (SMR) and risk factors (including dietary habits) for stroke across the three regions of Ehime Prefecture - Toyo (east), Chuyo (central), and Nanyo (south).
Participants and methods: We obtained medical records derived from 956,979 medical examinations carried out at JA Ehime Kouseiren Medical Examination Centers between April 1994 and March 2006. We analyzed data from 132,090 subjects (Toyo - 47,654, Chuyo - 38,435, Nanyo - 46,001) who underwent their first medical examination during this period. To analyze differences between the three regions, we first calculated the SMR for stroke based on data from the Basic Residential Registers and Health Statistics Bureau. Secondly, we calculated significant differences in body mass index, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), blood glucose (Glu), and total cholesterol (T-CHO). Thirdly, we used the Chi-square test to calculate significant differences in the percentage of subjects who consumed the following foods on a daily basis: rice, bread, eggs, fish, meat, vegetables, dairy products, and fruit juice.
Results: Despite the fact that regional differences in the SMR for stroke have been decreasing, in both men and women in Nanyo, the mean values for SBP and DBP were significantly higher and the mean value for T-CHO was significantly lower than in Toyo and Chuyo. In Nanyo, the percentage of subjects who consumed rice and fish (men and women), meat (men), and juice (women) on a daily basis was higher than in Toyo and Chuyo.
Conclusion: In Nanyo, higher SMR for stroke may be related to high SBP and DBP and low T-CHO. As background to these results, it is also thought that regional differences in dietary habits may have an influence.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between mortality risk and health-related factors and sense of coherence (SOC) in a cohort study of residents from a rural area of Japan.Materials and Methods: We followed-up with 3,416 baseline respondents over 3.76 years. Residents were subdivided into three groups based on SOC score: low, middle, and high. We used the total SOC score of the low-level SOC group as the standard, and calculated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for the middle- and high-level SOC groups. For all three SOC groups, health-related factors were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, and lifestyle and history were analyzed using the χ2 test. Results were also analyzed by gender and age.Results: For men in the low-level SOC group, the SMR value was defined as 1, and for men in the high-level SOC group (0.44; 95% confidence interval: 0.11–0.77), the SMR value was significantly lower. There was a statistically significant reduction in the percentage of smokers in the men in the high-level SOC group.Conclusion: In this study, high-level SOC was associated with low mortality risk. This finding was particularly pronounced in the men.