Although a generation-related difference in nutrient and food-group intake has been broadly recognized in the Japanese population, few studies have examined the difference and correlation of this intake between co-habiting generations of the same family line. We therefore conducted a dietary survey on 173 students attending the dietetic course at a junior college in Aichi prefecture, Japan, and on their mothers and grandmothers by using a diet-history questionnaire. Data from 110 families embodying students living with the mother or alone (excepting dormitory dwellers) are included in the study. The means of 13 nutrients and 10 food groups (of the 15 and 14 respectively examined) showed significant differences among the three generations. A significant difference was apparent in the carbohydrate, protein, saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, and fish intakes between the students living with their mothers and those apart. In the correlation analyses between generations, moderate correlation was apparent for most nutrients and food groups between the students and their mothers living together (correlation range for nutrients=0.30-0.61, and for food groups=0.21-0.56). A wide variation with no consistency was seen for the correlation range between the students and their grandmothers (-0.18-0.59 and-0.33-0.65, respectively). No meaningful correlation was apparent between any two generations living apart. Among the food groups examined, pulses, fish, and vegetables showed relatively large differences for the correlation between two groups with different living conditions. When living together, the correlation coefficients for ingested nutrients and food groups between the students and their mothers decreased according to the increase in frequency of eating out by the students. These results suggest that living together was an important factor for the resemblance in dietary habits between generations in the Japanese population in which a marked generation-related difference in dietary habits exists.

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An investigation was made into the home living conditions and eating habits of 73 aged people (20 males of a mean 92.0±4.7 years old, and 53 females of a mean 91.8±2.4 years old) in Kanasagou-machi, Ibaraki Prefecture.
The aged as a parcentage of the general population was as high as 26.5%. The household structure for two generations was 46.6%, while that for three generations was 27.4%.
As many as 87.7% answered that they were careful about their health, citing careful eating, good sleep, and trying not worry as healthy practices.
Their daily life was generally limited to being inside their houses, with the exception of visiting their neighbors. The proportion of bedridden persons was 10.0% for males and 13.2% (or 26.4% including those partially bedridden) for females. More females were in need of care by other people, the percentages being 22.6% for females and 5.0% for males.
Miso-soup and pickles were most prominent in their diets. Among the vegetables eaten, green vegetables were the most frequently ingested by both males and females, these being followed by tubers for males and fruit for females. Eggs, fish and milk were the most frequently eaten foods of animal origin, the frequency of meat intake being quite low.
A cross-analysis according to different daily life conditions showed that those who were mostly confined to their beds took in fewer nutrients such as energy, protein, iron, vitamin B₁ and fiber than those who were mobile, regardless of the frequency and degree of mobility.

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We investigated the effect of ingesting bifidus yogurt on the defecation frequency of elderly persons. The subjects were 7 males (80.0 years mean age) and 30 females (83.7 years mean age) residing in a health facility for the elderly. After checking the defecation frequency during the first three-month period, the subjects were asked to ingest daily 100ml of yogurt incorporating 3.6×10¹⁰ bifidus for one month. They then ceased ingesting the yogurt. The defecation frequency was checked during the 1-month period of ingesting the yogurt and also during the month after they had ceased ingesting it. The numbers of subjects with perfect activity of daily living (ADL), laxative dosing, cerebrovascular disease, ataxia, and cardiovascular disease were 7, 26, 23, 15, and 12, respectively.
The mean frequency of defection was 0.56times/day (0.33 standard deviation) during the first period, 0.77 (0.42 SD) while ingesting yogurt, and 0.76 (0.53 SD) after stopping ingestion. The defecation frequency was therefore significantly increased by ingesting the bifidus yogurt (paired t-test, p<0.001).
The proportion of those increasing their defecation frequency by ingesting bifidus yogurt was 59%. Even after stopping the ingestion of bifidus yogurt, 24% of the subjects still retained an increased defecation frequency.
The defecation frequency of those without laxative dosing (including those who sometimes took a laxative) was significantly increased even with imperfect ADL (p<0.05). The subjects with perfect or almost perfect ADL and the usual laxative dose showed a significantly increased defecation frequency, although this reverted to the baseline level after stopping the ingestion of yogurt. No significant effect of yogurt was apparent for the bedridden elderly with the usual laxative dose.
The ingestion of bifidus yogurt improved the defecation frequency in about 50% of the patients with several diseases, and even after stopping its ingestion, the improvement effect continued.
The overall proportion of those whose defecation frequency was improved by ingesting bifidus yogurt was 73% of all the subjects.

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[in Japanese]

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