[Association of diet with menopausal symptoms in Korean middle-aged women].
OBJECTIVE
This study was designed to explore the association of diet with menopausal symptoms in Korean women.


METHODS
For this cross-sectional survey, 276 women aged between 45-55 years visiting two branches of K-university hospital located in Seoul and Ansan of Kyunggi province were recruited from April to July, 2002. A menopause-specific quality-of-life questionnaire and a food frequency questionnaire were used to measure menopause-related symptoms and the intake of 28 types of foods.


RESULTS
No differences were found in the levels of bothersome total menopausal symptoms, physical symptoms, psychosocial symptoms, and sexual symptoms according to the intake of each food. Only higher intake of fishes, seaweeds, and vegetable oils were inversely associated with bothersome levels of vasomotor symptoms. Women with higher intake of yellow-green vegetables and lower intake of coffee, confectionery, and processed foods reported lower hot flush rate.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that higher intake of yellow-green vegetables and lower intake of coffee, confectionery and processed foods may relieve hot flushes. Further study needs to be pursued to study the relationship with nutrients of these foods and hot flushes.
College of Nursing, Korea University, Anam-dong, Seoul, Korea. yjpark@korea.ac.kr
Young-Joo
YJ
Park
Hee-Young
HY
Paik
Young-Joo
YJ
Kim
Sung-Sook
SS
Hong
Mi-Jin
MJ
Kim
Ji-Won
JW
Yoon
So-Hyun
SH
Moon