RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is fourth in prevalence of carcinoma and fourth most cause of death from malignant neoplasm, which has been increasing in Korea. In this study, we tried to investigate the association of dietary intake of calcium and distal colorectal adenomatous polyps known as precursors of colorectal cancer. METHODS: A total of 2,456 subjects who visited a health promotion center in one university hospital in Seoul, Korea, from June 2003 to June 2006 underwent sigmoidoscopy and completed a 24-hour dietary recall. RESULTS: Among the selected 2,408 subjects, the prevalence of distal colorectal adenoma found in sigmoidoscopy was 12.54%. After adjusting for age and total serum cholesterol by multiple logistic regression, the odds ratio of the male subjects who had the highest quintile of dietary intake of calcium was 0.512 (95% CI: 0.305-0.859; P = 0.011) compared with the lowest. CONCLUSION: In male subjects with the highest quintile of dietary calcium density was associated with a low risk of distal colorectal adenomatous polyps.