In a study by Takata et al. (A-15), investigators evaluated the relationship between chewing ability and teeth number and measures of physical fitness in a sample of subjects ages 80 or higher in Japan.

One of the outcome variables that measured physical fitness was leg extensor strength. To measure the ability to chew foods, subjects were asked about their ability to chew 15 foods (peanuts, vinegared octopus, and French bread, among others). Consideration of such variables as height, body weight, gender, systolic blood pressure, serum albumin, fasting glucose concentration, back pain, smoking, alcohol consumption, marital status, regular medical treatment, and regular exercise revealed that the number of chewable foods was significant in predicting leg extensor strength (b^

1 ¼ :075; p ¼ :0366).

However, in the presence of the other variables, number of teeth was not a significant predictor

(b^

1 ¼ :003; p ¼ :9373).