Salty food preference is associated with osteoporosis among Chinese men.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations between salty food preference and osteoporosis (OP) in general Chinese men.

METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a largescale, community-based, cross-sectional study to estimate the associations by using self-report questionnaire to evaluate the salty food preference. The total of 1,092 men was available to data analysis in this study. Multiple regression models controlling for confounding factors to include salty food preference variables were employed to explore the relationships for OP.

RESULTS: We found negative correlations between preference for salty food and T-score (p=0.006). Multiple regression analysis showed that the preference for salty food was significantly positively associated with OP (p<0.05 for all). The men with preference for salty food habits had a higher prevalence of OP.

CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that salty food preference was independently and significantly associated with OP. The prevalence of OP was more frequent in Chinese men preferring salty food habits.