Association between frequency of snacking and all-cause mortality among community-dwelling young-old adults: An age-specific prospective cohort study.

Aim: We aimed to clarify whether snacking habits decrease the risk of all-cause mortality in an older Japanese population.

Methods: The study participants were 64- or 65-year-old community-dwelling residents recruited each survey year from 1996 through 2005. Data on the frequency of snacking and other lifestyle factors were obtained during the baseline survey using self-administered questionnaires, and the participants were followed up annually until the end of 2017. In total, 2943 participants (1484 men and 1459 women) were eligible. All-cause mortality was compared among participants grouped by frequency of snacking (no snacking, one to four times/week, or every day).

Results: The number of deaths recorded over the study period of 43 204 person-years was 357 (24.1%) for men and 173 (11.9%) for women. The mean ± standard deviations for the follow-up period were 14.2 ± 4.9 years in men and 15.2 ± 4.5 years in women. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses showed that after adjusting for potential confounding factors, the hazard ratios for women were 0.64 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43-0.94) in the group that had a habit of snacking one to four times/week, and 0.93 (95% CI 0.63-1.36) in the group that had a habit of snacking every day compared with those in the no snacking group. These associations were not observed among men.

Conclusions: A moderate frequency of snacking slightly decreases the risk of all-cause mortality among women. Our findings might be useful for improving the nutrition statuses in older female adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 697-704.