Objective: To examine the accuracy of total energy intake (TEI) estimation by using weighed food record in comparison with total energy expenditure (TEE) measurement by using the doubly labeled water method.
Methods: Forty-eight Japanese (men: 24, women: 24; age range: 20~69 years) were analyzed. TEI was calculated from weighted food records and simultaneously taking digital photographs. The corrected TEE (cTEE) was calculated from daily TEE measured by using the doubly labeled water method and change in body weight during the 2-week study period.
Results: The TEE and TEI were 2,819±620 and 2,308±466 kcal/day for men; and 2,045±501 and 1,823±414 kcal/day for women, respectively. TEI was significantly underestimated in men (-15.2±21.5%), while there was no significant underestimation of TEI in women. There was no significant systematic error by the amount of TEI. The intraclass correlation coefficient (0.344; 95% confidence interval, 0.063~0.574) and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (0.460, p = 0.001) were weak to moderate in magnitude. The estimation error was influenced by the number of food items recorded, number of times the men ate over 3 days, and age in women.
Conclusions: Future studies are warranted to clarify the accuracy of TEI estimation in terms of the differences in dietary surveys, characteristics of subjects, and the estimation error of the amount of intake for each food group and nutrients.

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Objective: To qualitatively study elementary school staff's views on the current content and future tasks of food-safety education for school-age children.
Methods: In April 2010, six school dietitians, six home economics teachers, and four nursing teachers working at elementary schools in Tokyo were interviewed. The group interviews for each of the above occupation lasted 90 minutes. The themes of the interview were the current content and the future tasks of food-safety education. The verbatim records of each interview were categorized using the KJ method, and a diagram was drawn for each occupation.
Results: The number of categories for each occupation in the current content of food-safety education was as follows: school dietitians, five categories (e.g., “using reliable foods,” “preventing food poisoning or infectious diseases,” etc.); home economics teachers, five categories (e.g., “food additives,” “preventing accidents or injuries,” etc.); and nursing teachers, four categories (e.g., “food allergies,” “brushing teeth,” etc.). Two categories were common to all occupations—“preventing food poisoning or infectious diseases” and “food allergies.” The future tasks of food-safety education were categorized into seven categories, such as “food-selection ability” and “interest in food.”
Conclusion: The concepts and contents of food-safety education held by elementary school staff were wide-ranging. Further quantitative research is needed to examine food-safety education.

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Objective: To examine the factors contributing to food waste during lunchtime in elementary schools.
Methods: A self-report questionnaire including items on food waste during lunchtime was administered in May and June 2009 to 112 fifth- and sixth-grade students at an elementary school in Tokyo. Children completed the questionnaire after lunchtime on two days. To examine the factors contributing to food waste during lunchtime at schools, a logistic regression analysis was performed with not eating lunch as the dependent variable and feeling hungry before lunch, feeling of fullness after lunch, taste for the menu, time for eating, chopsticks or cutlery, sex and body mass index (BMI) as the independent variables. We conducted the survey on each child twice; thus, we analyzed data for 224 children using the generalized estimating equation (GEE).
Results: The questionnaire was completed by 222 children (response rate: 99%). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the predictors of not eating lunch were identified as time for eating [odds ratio (OR): 45.31, 95% confidence interval (CI): 13.46~152.53], taste for the menu [OR: 2.71, 95% CI: 1.04~7.09], and BMI [OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65~0.99].
Conclusion: The results suggest that the factors contributing to food waste during lunchtime at schools are time for eating, taste for the menu, and BMI. Based on these results, nutrition education for children to reduce food waste should be provided, and measures adopted by the entire school against food waste should be considered.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the basic chemical properties of oil used for deep-frying on a large scale and to investigate a facile method for screening deteriorated oil.
Method: Chemical properties and color of oil used repeatedly for deep-frying in one of our campus restaurants were determined.
Result: Acid value (AV) of oil used for 3 h per day for 9 days in the campus restaurant remained within safe limits in accordance with the Food Sanitation Act. Carbonyl value (COV), polar compound (PC) and triacylglycerol (TG) contents, and Gardner color of the oil were in the ranges 2~10, 5%~18%, 90%~98.5% and 1~12, respectively. Gardner color showed good correlation with AV, COV, and PC content, but TG content showed poor correlation with AV, COV, PC content, and Gardner color.
Conclusion: Because of the good correlations among Gardner color and AV, COV, and PC content of the oil, we concluded that determination of Gardner color—which is very easy and inexpensive—was a facile method for assessing the deterioration of oil used in deep-frying.

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Objective: A healthy dietary life and dietary habits for students not only are important for their mental and physical development but also greatly influence their health when they mature. In this study, we aimed to clarify the present situation in schoolchildren and focused on their consciousness of health and dietary life.
Methods: We surveyed 433 fifth graders and 442 eighth graders in a ward of Saitama. The students were divided by sex into two groups “conscious group” and “non-conscious group” and compared.
Results: For both sexes among the fifth and eighth graders, the rate of breakfast-skipping was lower and the rate of breakfast-taking was higher in the conscious group as compared to the non-conscious group. Moreover, in the conscious group, many students answered that they ate a certain volume of snacks at a certain time. Specifically, many fifth grade girls in the conscious group answered that they “consumed all of their school lunch” and “helped in preparing food and clearing the table”. A few students answered that they “ate breakfast alone”.
Conclusions: Elementary and junior high school students who are conscious of their health and dietary lives have desired dietary habits regarding breakfast, snacks, and school lunches. These results suggest that a “consciousness of health and dietary life” is linked to healthy dietary habits.

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Objective: We aimed to compare the frequency of rice consumption with age and examine the relationships between rice consumption and dietary habits and health in each age.
Methods: A self-reported cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted for 3,033 persons (≥15 years old). Data regarding their age, frequency of rice consumption, dietary habits, health, height, and weight were collected. We compared 3 age groups (10s/20s, 30s/40s, and ≥50 group) for the frequency of rice consumption by using cross-tabulation and χ² test. We also examined the relationships between the frequency of rice consumption and dietary habits and health in each age group by using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis.
Results: In all, 769 subjects completed the questionnaire (response rate: 25.4%). The frequency of rice consumption differed between the age groups, and was found to be the highest in the ≥50 group. In each age group, different dietary habits and health were associated with the frequency of rice consumption. These were “a meal consisting of a staple food, main dish, and side dish” and “appetite” in the 10s/20s and 30s/40s groups, and “a meal consisting of a staple food, main dish, and side dish” in the over ≥50 group.
Conclusions: The results indicated that different dietary habits and health related to the frequency of rice consumption with age. Further studies to examine for promoting of rice consumption considered age should be needed.

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