Dietary Patterns and Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio of Niigata Prefecture Residents : Analysis of the 2015 Niigata Prefecture Health and Nutrition Survey

[Abstract] In recent years, lowering the sodium-to-potassium ratio (Na/K ratio) in the diet has been linked to an antihypertensive effect. However, very few studies have identified regular dietary patterns with a low Na/K ratio. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the dietary patterns of adult men and women and to clarify the relationship between these patterns and the Na/K ratio in the diet. The study included 639 (240 men and 399 women) subjects aged 20 years or older from the 2015 Niigata prefectural health and nutrition survey. Dietary patterns were extracted from 24 food groups by principal component analysis. To compare the characteristics of each dietary pattern, the principal component scores were divided into tertiles, and analysis of covariance was conducted on the intake of nutrients and foods, with sex, age, and energy as adjustment variables. To examine the relationship between dietary patterns and the dietary Na/K ratio, we conducted multiple regression analysis using the Na/K ratio as the dependent variable and a total of 16 items (10 basic attributes and six principal component scores, for each dietary pattern) as independent variables for each sex. Six dietary patterns were identified by principal component analysis. In both men and women, subjects with higher scores for the "vegetable/rice," "milk/bread/fruit," and "legumes" patterns had a significantly decreased Na/K ratio, and subjects with a higher score for the "noodles" pattern had a significantly increased Na/K ratio. In women, subjects with higher scores for the "meat/fat" and "fish and seafood" patterns had significantly increased Na/K ratio. It is suggested that the dietary patterns recommended to lower the Na/K ratio for hypertension prevention are the "vegetable/rice," "milk/bread/fruit," and "legumes" patterns.