Studies conducted in Western populations have suggested that dietary calcium may protect against metabolic abnormalities, but there is little evidence of this effect in Asians, who have relatively low calcium intake. We evaluated the cross-sectional relationship between dietary calcium and metabolic syndrome among Korean men and women aged 40 years and over.

A total of 6,375 subjects aged 40 years and over and were recruited between January 2005 and February 2010 from the baseline study of the Multi-Rural Communities Cohort Study in Rural Communities (MRCohort). A food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary information. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the modified criteria published in the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel.

Calcium intake was related inversely to metabolic syndrome in women ( P -value = 0.0091), but not in men ( P = 0.1842). Among metabolic components, high waist circumference (WC) ( P = 0.0426) and high blood glucose ( P = 0.0027) in women and hypertriglyceridemia ( P = 0.0017) in men were inversely correlated with calcium intake. Excluding those who used calcium or multinutrient supplements did not attenuate the relationship between dietary calcium and metabolic abnormalities.

Dietary calcium intake from foods may be inversely related to metabolic syndrome, WC, and blood glucose among women in rural areas of Korea.