Associations between Dietary Patterns and Cardiometabolic Risks in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study from the Fukushima Health Management Survey, 2011-2015

Cardiometabolic risks were increasing in Fukushima residents after the Great East Japan Earthquake. We examined the association between dietary patterns and cardiometabolic risks in those aged >= 16 years. Dietary patterns were derived by principal component analysis for participants who underwent at least one diet assessment using a short-form food frequency questionnaire during 2011-2013 and a health checkup in 2014 and 2015 (n = 15,409 and 14,999, respectively). In 2014, the adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) in the highest versus lowest quartile of accumulative mean scores were 0.97 (0.96-0.99) for overweight/obesity, 0.96 (0.95-0.97) for total cholesterol (TC) >= 220 mg/dL, 0.96 (0.95-0.98) for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) >= 140 mg/dL, and 0.97 (0.96-0.99) for triglycerides >= 150 mg/dL for a vegetable diet and 1.03 (1.01-1.04) for TC >= 220 mg/dL and 1.02 (1.01-1.04) for LDL-C >= 140 mg/dL for a juice/milk diet. In 2015, we found consistently significant associations for the vegetable and juice/milk diets, and the PR and 95% CI were 0.99 (0.98-1.00) for HDL-C < 40 mg/dL for a meat diet. The continuous promotion of the vegetable pattern diet is necessary to reduce cardiometabolic risks, particularly dyslipidemia, in Japan.