Abstract
A food education support program to improve masticatory ability was developed, and its efficacy was examined in this study. The food education support program consisted of instruction in oral health by a dental hygienist at the start, and then eating and consciously chewing a special doughnut with a chewy texture (trade name: "Chewin' Donuts!" (Kekkou Kamigotae-aru Donatsu®), manufactured by Shiraho Tanpaku Co., Ltd.), which is made of soymilk, soy pulp, and liquid konjak, once daily for 7 days.
Subjects were 81 high-school students enrolled in the general course of a public high school. Consent was obtained from both the school principal and individual students. At the start and end of the program, direct masticatory ability was measured as the amount of eluted sugar using chewing gum, and indirect masticatory ability was also measured as the occlusal area, average and maximum occlusal pressures, and occlusal force using Dental Prescale® 50H Type R. Furthermore, awareness of mastication, eating behavior, and lifestyle were studied with a self-completed questionnaire and changes before and after the program were examined.
The results showed that the amount of eluted sugar in male and female students was 63.0±6.3 and 56.5±7.3% before the program and 65.7±8.6 and 59.2±9.0% at the end of the program, respectively; the amount had significantly improved in both male and female students at the end of the program. For indirect masticatory ability, the average and maximum occlusal pressures and occlusal force in male students and the occlusal force in female students had significantly improved at the end of the program. In addition, masticatory behavior and awareness had both significantly improved after the program.
Therefore, it was suggested that the food education support program implemented in this study was an effective method for supporting the improvement of the masticatory ability of high-school students.
