Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Dietary intake in relation to self-reported constipation among Japanese women aged 18–20 years

Abstract

Objective:

Information on modifiable lifestyle factors associated with constipation is limited, especially among non-Western populations. We examined associations between dietary intake and self-reported constipation in young Japanese women.

Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Subjects:

A total of 1705 female Japanese dietetic students aged 18–20 years and free of current disease and current dietary counseling.

Methods:

Dietary intake was estimated over a 1-month period with a validated, self-administered, diet history questionnaire, and lifestyle variables including self-reported constipation were assessed by a second questionnaire designed for this survey.

Results:

A total of 436 women (26%) reported themselves to be ‘constipated’. A multivariate odds ratio (OR) for women in the highest quartile of rice intake was 0.47 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.33, 0.68) compared with the lowest. Additionally, women in the highest category of coffee intake had a multivariate OR of 0.67 (0.47, 0.94) compared with women in the lowest. Conversely, women in the highest quartile of confectionery intake had a multivariate OR of 1.54 (1.12, 2.13) compared with women in the lowest. Moreover, a multivariate OR for constipation for women in the highest quartile of Japanese and Chinese tea intake was 1.49 (1.09, 2.05) compared with women in the lowest. Neither total dietary fiber intake nor other lifestyle factors examined were associated with constipation.

Conclusions:

The consumption of rice and coffee was inversely associated with and that of confectioneries and Japanese and Chinese tea was positively associated with a prevalence of self-reported constipation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Black AE, Coward WA, Cole TJ, Prentice AM (1996). Human energy expenditure in affluent societies: an analysis of 574 doubly-labelled water measurements. Eur J Clin Nutr 50, 72–92.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell AJ, Busby WJ, Horwath CC (1993). Factors associated with constipation in a community based sample of people aged 70 years and over. J Epidemiol Community Health 47, 23–26.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dukas L, Willett WC, Giovannucci EL (2003). Association between physical activity, fiber intake, and other lifestyle variables and constipation in a study of women. Am J Gastroenterol 98, 1790–1796.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everhart JE, Go VLW, Johannes RS, Fitzsimmons SC, Roth HP, White LR (1989). A longitudinal survey of self-reported bowel habits in the United States. Dig Dis Sci 34, 1153–1162.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • FAO/WHO/UNU (1985). Energy and protein requirements. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation, Technical Report Series 724. World Health Organization: Geneva.

  • Fujiwara T (2003). Skipping breakfast is associated with dysmenorrhea in young women in Japan. Int J Food Sci Nutr 54, 505–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrigues V, Galvez C, Ortiz V, Ponce M, Nos P, Ponce J (2004). Prevalence of constipation: agreement among several criteria and evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of qualifying symptoms and self-reported definition in a population-based survey in Spain. Am J Epidemiol 159, 520–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins PD, Johanson JF (2004). Epidemiology of constipation in North America: a systematic review. Am J Gastroenterol 99, 750–759.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirai K, Higuchi H, Sato R, Kitano N, Furusaki K, Takezoe R et al. (2001). Awareness of the health and defecation tendencies among college students by location of domicile. Jpn J Hyg 56, 571–576. (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hirai K, Takezoe R (1997). Health consideration and defecation tendencies of aged 9-91. J Integrated Study Dietary Habits 8, 45–51. (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kunimoto M, Nishi M, Sasaki K (1998). The relation between irregular bowel movement and the lifestyle of working women. Hepatogastroenterology 45, 956–960.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone MBE, Black AE (2003). Markers of the validity of reported energy intake. J Nutr 133 (Suppl), 895S–920S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuzawa Y, Inoue S, Ikeda Y, Sakata T, Saito Y, Sato Y et al. (2000). The judgment criteria for new overweight, and the diagnostic standard for obesity. Obes Res 6, 18–28. (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Health and Welfare (1994). The National Nutrition Survey in Japan, 1992. Ministry of Health and Welfare: Tokyo. (in Japanese).

  • Ministry of Health and Welfare (1999). Recommended Dietary Allowance for Japanese: Dietary Reference Intakes 6th ed. Ministry of Health and Walfare: Tokyo. (in Japanese).

  • Ministry of Health and Welfare (2003). The National Nutrition Survey in Japan, 2001. Ministry of Health and Welfare: Tokyo. (in Japanese).

  • Ministry of Health and Welfare (2004). The National Nutrition Survey in Japan, 2002. Ministry of Health and Welfare: Tokyo. (in Japanese).

  • Nakaji S, Tokunaga S, Sakamoto J, Todate M, Shimoyama T, Umeda T et al. (2002). Relationship between lifestyle factors and defecation in a Japanese population. Eur J Nutr 41, 244–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okubo H, Sasaki S (2004). Underreporting of energy intake among Japanese women aged 18-20 years and its association with reported nutrient and food group intakes. Public Health Nutr 7, 911–917.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandler RS, Jordan MC, Shelton BJ (1990). Demographic and dietary determinants of constipation in the US population. Am J Public Health 80, 185–189.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sanjoaquin MA, Appleby PN, Spencer EA, Key TJ (2004). Nutrition and lifestyle in relation to bowel movement frequency: a cross-sectional study of 20630 men and women in EPIC-Oxford. Public Health Nutr 7, 77–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Katagiri A, Tsuji T, Shimoda T, Amano K (2003a). Self-reported rate of eating correlates with body mass index in 18-y-old Japanese women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 27, 1405–1410.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Matsumura Y, Ishihara J, Tsugane S (2003b). Validity of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire used in the 5-year follow-up survey of the JPHC study cohort I to assess dietary fiber intake: comparison with dietary records. J Epidemiol 13 (Suppl), S106–S114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Shimoda T, Katagiri A, Tsuji T, Amano K (2002). Eating frequency of rice vs. bread at breakfast and nutrient and food-group intake among Japanese female college students. J Community Nutr 4, 83–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Tsuji T, Katagiri A, Shimoda T, for the Diets of the Fresh Students in Dietetic Courses Study Group (2000a). Association between the number of food items bought in convenience stores and nutrient and food-group intakes – a survey of first-year female college students taking dietetic courses. J Jpn Soc Nutr Food Sci 53, 215–226. (in Japanese with English abstract).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Ushio F, Amano K, Morihara M, Todoriki T, Uehara Y et al. (2000b). Serum biomarker-based validation of a self-administered diet history questionnaire for Japanese subjects. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol 46, 285–296.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Yanagibori R, Amano K (1998a). Self-administered diet history questionnaire developed for health education: a relative validation of the test-version by comparison with 3-day diet record in women. J Epidemiol 8, 203–215.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Yanagibori R, Amano K (1998b). Validity of a self-administered diet history questionnaire for assessment of sodium and potassium – comparison with single 24-hour urinary excretion. Jpn Circ J 62, 431–435.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Science and Technology Agency (2000). Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan 5th ed. Printing Bureau of the Ministry of Finance: Tokyo. (in Japanese).

  • Talley NJ (2004). Definitions, epidemiology, and impact of chronic constipation. Rev Gastroenterol Disord 4 (suppl), S3–S10.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Talley NJ, Jones M, Nuyts G, Dubois D (2003). Risk factors for chronic constipation based on a general practice sample. Am J Gastroenterol 98, 1107–1111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson WG, Longstreth GF, Drossman DA, Heaton KW, Irvine EJ, Müller-Lissner SA (1999). Functional bowel disorders and functional abdominal pain. Gut 45 (Suppl), II43–II47.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Towers AL, Burgio KL, Locher JL, Merkel IS, Safaeian M, Wald A (1994). Constipation in the elderly: influence of dietary, psychological, and physiological factors. J Am Geriatr Soc 42, 701–706.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead WE, Drinkwater D, Cheskin LJ, Heller BR, Schuster MM (1989). Constipation in the elderly living at home. Definition, prevalence, and relationship to lifestyle and health status. J Am Geriatr Soc 37, 423–429.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wong ML, Wee S, Pin CH, Gan GL, Ye HC (1999). Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors associated with constipation in an elderly Asian community. Am J Gastroenterol 94, 1283–1291.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ms Yukari Takemi, RD, PhD and Ms Ayako Miura, RD for data collection regarding the validation of the question on constipation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S Sasaki.

Additional information

Guarantor: S Sasaki.

Contributors: KM conducted the statistical analysis and wrote the manuscript. HO conducted the database management and the statistical analysis. SS conducted the study design, data collection, and overall management. All authors made critical comments during the preparation of the manuscript.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Murakami, K., Okubo, H. & Sasaki, S. Dietary intake in relation to self-reported constipation among Japanese women aged 18–20 years. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 650–657 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602365

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602365

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links