ABSTRACT
Fraction ............................................................................................ 231 9.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 232 References .............................................................................................................233
In our aging society, it is becoming a social problem that the number of elderly people bedridden due to lifestyle-related diseases and who need nursing care is rapidly growing (Ray et al., 1997; Looker et al., 1995; Hui, Slemenda, and Johnston, 1988). In a survey on the causes of requirements for nursing care, bone disease from fracture and fall were reported to be placed third, after cerebral stroke and senility. There were over 10 million Japanese patients with osteoporosis in 2000, estimated to reach 16 million if potential patients who had just begun to lose bone mass were included (Sone and Fukunaga, 2004). Moreover, these patients with osteoporosis are now estimated to total 200 million worldwide (Lin and Lane, 2004). As remarked above, it is considered an issue common to aging societies, including not only Japan but also Western countries, to decrease the number of osteoporotic patients by improving eating habits. At present, women account for 80% of patients with osteoporosis, but men are at risk equally to women when they are over 80 years of age (Peate, 2004; Ebeling 1998). Osteoporosis is attributed to aging, but its occurrence can be delayed by changing dietary habits (Wei et al., 2003). In addition, it is also becoming an issue that young women lose bone mineral density because of unreasonable and imbalanced dieting (Flynn, 2003). In our society, where aging is rapidly progressing, it is presumed that bone-related diseases will increase, suggesting that, from the viewpoint of dietary lifestyle, it is more important to pay attention to bone health from people’s earlier years by maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle (Silverman et al., 2001; Prince, 1997).
