1993 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 1149-1161
I surveyed the actual patterns of dietary life and work in rural communities, in which the changes are so great as to lead one to fear about their future, and checked them against health issues. In the dietary life, the intake of carbohydrate has generally dropped (the intake of rice even by farming families is on the decrease), while that of proteins-and lipids in particular-hassignificantly increased. In some rural communities, however, the conventional practice of taking in much carbohydrate is observed. As farm work has been increasingly mechanized, the types of farm work with heavy work loads have decreased, and the loads are now medium and small in range. But there are few farming families to take holidays on a regular basis. They are busy all the year and the length of working hours a day is great. Many of the farming families with nonagricultural side jobs engage in farm work on Saturdays. Few farm workers enjoy sports. In terms of health indices, anemia is on the decrease, though there used to be many cases, and there are signs of a rise in the prevalence of obesity. Then there are many patients with hypertension and other circulatory problems and there are signs of a rise in the prevalence of adult disease. It is to be hoped that health care be strengthened, but for this, is necessary first of alle to bring up farming families so that they may be able to enjoy a socially stable life.
