地域の食育イベント参加者における体型の自己評価と野菜摂取状況との関連

抄録

To improve dietary education programs to promote vegetable consumption, we examined the relationship between weight perception, and food and vegetable intake among participants in a community dietary education event. The participants were divided into three groups based on their perceived weight status: normal weight (37.3%), slightly overweight or overweight (43.1%), and slightly underweight or underweight (19.6%).

The percentages of individuals who rated their food intake as “low” (27.6, 3.5, and 3.0% in the under, normal, and overweight groups, respectively) and “high” (13.8, 14.0, and 47.0%, respectively) were significantly different among the three groups, while no such difference was observed in terms of the percentage of individuals who considered their usual vegetable intake to be “low” (44.8, 40.4, and 42.4%, respectively) or “high” (17.2, 10.5, and 15.2%, respectively).

　When the participants reporting low-level vegetable consumption were asked to indicate all applicable reasons for it, the largest proportion of respondents from the normal and overweight groups indicated “limited choices of vegetable dishes”, followed by “frequent eating out”, whereas those from the underweight group frequently reported “frequent eating out” and “preparation of vegetable dishes being bothersome and time-consuming”.

The present finding that self-rated food intake, but not vegetable intake, significantly differed with perceived weight status indicates that consuming an adequate amount of vegetables is difficult for the majority of participants, regardless of weight perception. The survey results, including the reasons for the low vegetable intake and the types of vegetables usually consumed by these participants, can be used as a basis for providing them with appropriate dietary advice in the future to increase their vegetable consumption.