Table 1 Characteristics of older Japanese adults from the JAGES cohort study according to cohabitation status (n = 10,647)

Cooking skill

High

7993

75.1

87.5

73.0

Low

2654

25.0

12.4

27.0

Sex

Men

4840

45.5

31.0

47.8

Women

5807

54.5

69.0

52.2

Age (years)

65–69

3241

30.4

24.6

31.4

70–74

2906

27.3

23.6

27.9

75–79

2397

22.5

24.7

22.2

≥ 80

2103

19.8

27.1

18.5

Education (years)

Low (≤ 9)

3602

33.8

39.4

32.9

Middle (10–12)

4314

40.5

37.4

41.0

High (≥ 13)

2583

24.3

21.9

24.6

Other/Missing

148

1.4

1.3

1.4

Annual income (million yen)

Low (< 2.00)

4185

39.3

43.3

38.7

Middle (2.00–3.99)

3356

31.5

22.5

33.0

High (≥ 4.00)

899

8.4

4.5

9.1

Missing

2207

20.7

29.8

19.2

Employment status

Working

2687

25.2

21.2

25.9

Retired

5646

53.0

50.9

53.4

Never worked

715

6.7

7.7

6.5

Missing

1599

15.0

20.1

14.2

Marital status

Married

7702

72.3

3.7

83.6

Bereaved

2065

19.4

61.7

12.5

Divorced

388

3.6

16.7

1.5

Not married

273

2.6

13.9

0.7

Other/missing

219

2.1

4.0

1.7

Higher-level functional capacity

Fully capable

4003

37.6

36.2

37.8

Less capable

5742

53.9

53.7

54.0

Missing

902

8.5

10.1

8.2

Depressive symptoms

Non-depressed (GDS < 5)

7079

66.5

56.0

68.2

Depressed (5 ≤ GDS)

1874

17.6

25.0

16.4

Missing

1694

15.9

19.0

15.4

Food store availability

Highest

2998

28.6

25.3

29.1

Middle-high

5244

50.0

54.0

49.4

Middle-low

1503

14.3

13.2

14.5

Lowest

707

6.7

7.0

6.7

missing

36

0.3

0.6

0.3

Frequency of home cooking (n/week)

≥ 5

5440

51.1

68.7

48.2

3–4

859

8.1

16.2

6.7

1–2

728

6.8

6.4

6.9

< 1

726

6.8

2.5

7.5

Never

2772

26.0

4.7

29.5

Missing

122

1.1

1.5

1.1

Frequency of eating outside the home (n/week)

≥ 5

190

1.8

3.3

1.5

3–4

380

3.6

5.7

3.2

1–2

1419

13.3

16.1

12.9

< 1

4278

40.2

35.6

40.9

Never

4138

38.9

36.8

39.2

Missing

242

2.3

2.4

2.3

Frequency of vegetable/fruit intake (n/day)

≥ 1

8402

78.9

70.8

80.2

< 1

2106

19.8

27.8

18.5

Missing

139

1.3

1.3

1.3

Body weight status (BMI, kg/m2)

Underweight (< 18.5)

724

6.8

8.7

6.5

Normal (18.5–22.9)

4922

46.2

48.9

45.8

Overweight (23.0–27.4)

3915

36.8

31

37.7

Obesity (≥ 27.5)

788

7.4

7.7

7.4

Missing

298

2.8

3.7

2.7

Frequency of going out (n/week)

≥ 4

7805

73.3

69.5

73.9

2–3

1974

18.5

21.9

18.0

1

367

3.4

3.8

3.4

< 1

394

3.7

3.9

3.7

Missing

107

1.0

0.9

1.0

Time spent walking or standing (hour/day)

< 1

1348

12.7

13.8

12.5

1–2

4046

38.0

42.1

37.3

≥ 3

5070

47.6

41.8

48.6

Missing

183

1.7

2.3

1.6