Many studies have explored dietary diversity and how often certain foods are consumed. However, little is known about how dietary patterns, food choices, and combinations vary with age and gender.

To bridge this gap, Professor Katsumi Iizuka from the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Japan, and his team sought to analyze dietary patterns among young and middle-aged Japanese individuals.

Explaining why this is important, Prof. Iizuka says, "Being aware of the gender- and age-specific differences in dietary patterns and diversity can lead to individualized nutritional improvement for each age and gender group."

The researchers analyzed the anonymized responses from a dietary survey obtained during health checkups of 2,743 Fujita Health University employees. The respondents were stratified into four age groups: 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, and 50–59 years. Their findings were published in Nutrients.

The Food Intake Frequency Questionnaire was used to assess their weekly consumption frequency of 10 different foods, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, soy, green vegetables, seaweed, fruits, potatoes, and oil; the frequency of drinking sugar-sweetened coffee and tea; and the frequency of consuming soft sweets, colas, other soft drinks, and alcohol.