title: How do health behaviours relate to dietary practice patterns among Japanese adults?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify dietary practice patterns for Japanese adults and investigate the links between health behaviours and these patterns.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random sample, stratified according to area, sex, and age, of 4570 adults aged 20-80 years completed a survey conducted in 2011 in a city, in Yamagata Prefecture, Northeast Japan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cluster analysis of 16 dietary practice items revealed four patterns labelled as: low fat, sugar, or salt; emphasis on nutrition; regular breakfast and staples; and meals not snacks. Findings from multiple linear regression analyses showed that those not engaged in habitual physical exercise had lower scores on low fat, sugar, or salt (beta coefficient -0.22: 95% confidence intervals -0.30, -0.14); emphasis on nutrition (-0.17: -0.25, -0.09); meals not snacks; (-0.38: -0.46, -0.3) that other participants. Current smokers had lower scores than never smokers on low fat, sugar, or salt (-0.23: -0.32, -0.14); emphasis on nutrition (-0.28: -0.37, -0.19); regular breakfast and staples (-0.42: -0.51, -0.33) patterns. Compared with nondrinkers, those who had reduced their consumption of alcohol had higher scores on low fat, sugar, or salt (0.19: 0.09, 0.29) and emphasis on nutrition (0.17: 0.07, 0.27). These relationships were adjusted for other dietary practice patterns, sociodemographic factors, body mass index, and the presence of major illness or pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings support an integrated and targeted approach as part of public health policy by considering links between dietary practices and other health behaviours, such as habitual exercise and smoking behaviour that may facilitate changes in dietary practices.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Email: g.mishra@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Gita D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Jung Su
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Gunma University, Gunma, Japan.
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Etsuko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Kyoritsu Women's University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawakubo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D008875:Middle Aged; D009753:Nutritive Value; D012907:Smoking; D062410:Snacks; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D019422:Dietary Sucrose