2021 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 141-149
Background : Antonovsky proposed the concept of “salutogenesis” and argued that sense of coherence (SOC) is an important health factor. Recently, studies have reported the positive effects of lifestyles such as diet and exercise towards strengthening SOC in a stressful social environment. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that people with high SOC do not think of food as merely nourishing, but understand the connection between diet and psychosomatic health, and thus willingly choose ingredients without pesticides and chemical fertilizers, appreciate the food and the people involved in the process of making the food, and enjoy the food.
Objective : To investigate the relationship between SOC and dietary awareness.
Method : Participants who underwent a health check-up at a certified integrated medical facility in Tokyo were recruited. The measurements consisted of an SOC questionnaire (5-point scale), Japanese version of perceived stress questionnaire (JPSS), lifestyle habit questionnaire (diet, exercise, rest score), and questionnaire on the practice of Okada Health Wellness Program (food & eating program, art culture program, frequency of purifying therapy). The food & eating program questionnaire included questions on dietary awareness.
Analysis : (1) Using Mann-Whitney’s U test, SOC and JPSS were analyzed for each item on the challenge sheet. (2) The Spearman’s correlation between SOC, JPSS, and total scores for each of the questionnaires were analyzed. (3) Multiple regression analysis was performed with the outcome variables as SOC and JPSS, and the independent variables as the score and age of each questionnaire.
Results : There were 44 male participants with an average age of 52.9 years (SD11.5) and 57 female participants with an average age of 50.7 years (SD14.3). In Spearman’s correlation coefficient, SOC showed a weak positive correlation with rest habits, dietary awareness, exercise habits, etc., and a strong negative correlation with JPSS. Multiple regression analysis showed that rest habits and dietary awareness had positive effects on SOC and negative effects on JPSS.
Conclusion : The results suggest that dietary awareness such as value of willingly choosing fresh, seasonal, local, and naturally farmed foods, sense of appreciation, and enjoyment of food are highly related to SOC.
