title: Nutritional improvement, cardiovascular diseases and longevity in Japan.
abstract: 1. Nutritional conditions have improved remarkably for the past 40 years in Japan; major improvements are increases in protein intake (69.7 in 1955 to 79.2g/day per capita in '88), and fat intake (20.3 in '55 to 58.3 g/day per capita in '88), both of which are significantly related statistically to the gradual reduction of stroke mortality (r = -0.74, not significant; r = -0.78, p < 0.05) and to a remarkable extension of average life span (r = 0.91, p < 0.01; r = 0.98, p < 0.001) in the Japanese. 2. Average heights of 12-year old male and female children, correlating significantly with these nutritional improvements, are significantly positively correlated with average life spans (men and women respectively; r = 0.97, p < 0.001). 3. Thus, general nutritional improvements among the Japanese are regarded as the major contributory factor to the recent achievement of top-ranked position for longevity in the world.
authors.affiliation: WHO Collaborating Center for Research on Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases, Department of Pathology, Shimane Medical University, Izumo, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mizushima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamori
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D004044:Dietary Proteins