Comparative Studies of Diet-Related Factors and Blood Pressure among Chinese and Japanese: Results from the China-Japan Cooperative Research of the WHO-CARDIAC Study

We aimed to compare the differences in diet-related factors and their associations with blood pressure (BP) between Chinese and Japanese. A total of 1, 151 Chinese (M/F: 551/600) and 1, 681 Japanese (782/899), aged 48-56 years, were studied using a multi-center cross-sectional study design. This work was a constituent part of the World Health Organization (WHO) Cardiovascular Disease and Alimentary Comparison (CARDIAC) Study. Measurements included in the present report were BP, body mass index (BMI), serum total cholesterol (TC), 24-h urinary sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, creatinine, 3-Methylhistidine (3MH, a marker of animal protein intake) and taurine (a marker of seafood intake) excretion levels. Results were as follows: (a) Japanese men had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension than the Chinese (34.4% vs. 20.5%, p