2014 Volume 56 Issue 4 Pages 262-270
Background: Given that one out of every two Japanese person is diagnosed as cancer in their lifetime, the Second Basic Plans to Promote Cancer Control Programs have prioritized public education and awareness about the disease.
Methods: This study assessed the status regarding recognition of the cancer causes among school students as well as the availability of information on cancer through a nationwide questionnaire survey conducted with 5th year students in elementary school, 2nd year students in junior high school, and 2nd year students in high school.
Results: Responses were obtained from 2,213 elementary school students, 2,960 junior high school students, and 3,703 high school students. Among them, over 90% of students (the highest percentage for a single answer) gave “tobacco,” and around 80% (the second highest percentage for a single answer) gave “alcohol” as causes of cancer. With higher number of school years, the percentage of students giving “genes” as a cause increased, while the relevant percentages decreased for “bacteria/viruses,” “stress,” “alcohol,” “obesity,” “lack of vegetables,” “excessive fat consumption,” and “excessive salt consumption.”
Among students in elementary school, junior high school and high school, over 95% of students (the highest percentage for a single answer) gave “television” as a source of information on cancer. With higher number of school years, the percentage of students who gave “health classes at school” as an answer increased; for male students, the increase in rate was from 21.1% to 62.0% (40.9% increase) while for female students, the increase in rate was from19.3% to 64.3% (45.0% increase).
Discussion: The above results showed that school students had contradictory tendencies; they displayed relatively accurate understanding about some causes of cancer and relatively inaccurate understanding about others. Moreover, the decrease in the percentage of students giving “excessive salt consumption” and other lifestyle-related causes of cancer as answers pointed to a poor situation with regard to improving their lifestyle choices. In contrast, the results suggested that health classes at school were effective sources of information on cancer for students.
Conclusions: Our nationwide survey results suggest information sources and recognition of cancer causes in Japanese school students.
