title: The cross-sectional relationship between dietary calcium intake and metabolic syndrome among men and women aged 40 or older in rural areas of Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies conducted in Western populations have suggested that dietary calcium may protect against metabolic abnormalities, but there is little evidence of this effect in Asians, who have relatively low calcium intake. We evaluated the cross-sectional relationship between dietary calcium and metabolic syndrome among Korean men and women aged 40 years and over.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 6,375 subjects aged 40 years and over and were recruited between January 2005 and February 2010 from the baseline study of the Multi-Rural Communities Cohort Study in Rural Communities (MRCohort). A food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary information. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the modified criteria published in the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Calcium intake was related inversely to metabolic syndrome in women (P-value = 0.0091), but not in men (P = 0.1842). Among metabolic components, high waist circumference (WC) (P = 0.0426) and high blood glucose (P = 0.0027) in women and hypertriglyceridemia (P = 0.0017) in men were inversely correlated with calcium intake. Excluding those who used calcium or multinutrient supplements did not attenuate the relationship between dietary calcium and metabolic abnormalities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dietary calcium intake from foods may be inversely related to metabolic syndrome, WC, and blood glucose among women in rural areas of Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang Unviersity, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 133-791, Korea. ; Institute for Health and Society, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Song Kyoung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang Unviersity, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 133-791, Korea. ; Institute for Health and Society, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute of Wonkwang Medical Science, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan, Jeonbuk 570-794, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Hoon
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Daegu 705-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju 501-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, and Health Promotion Research Center, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Yeol
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang Unviersity, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seoul 133-791, Korea. ; Institute for Health and Society, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Bo Youl
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Choi
keywords: Calcium Intake; Koreans; metabolic syndrome; milk