Background
Colorectal cancer has the fourth prevalence of carcinoma and the fourth 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 anddistal colorectal adenomatous polyps known as precursors of colorectal cancer. Methods: 2,456subjects who visited Health Promotion Center in one university Hospital in Seoul Korea from June 2003 to June 2006 got sigmoidoscopy and completed 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 have 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, highest quintile of dietary calcium density was associated with the low risk of distal colorectal adenomatous polyps.