To date, only a few studies have provided practical evidence to support the implementation of a worksite nutrition education program in conjunction with nutrition-based environmental interventions to prevent lifestyle-related diseases, and the effectiveness of such a combined approach remains unknown. We analyzed review articles that summarized intervention studies regarding the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, with a particular focus on the combination of a nutrition education program and nutrition-based environmental interventions, to examine whether these efforts, as well as the approaches taken in our previous practical studies, are effective in preventing lifestyle-related diseases.
Published evidence supporting the effectiveness of prevention programs for lifestyle-related diseases was extracted from a number of review articles on occupational health published in Japan and abroad, and was examined from the viewpoint of nutrition education in conjunction with nutrition-based environmental interventions. According to a review paper published abroad, which described the effects of worksite interventions on achieving healthy weights, significantly higher favorable effects were observed in the intervention studies, based on behavioral science theory and, using a multi-component approach that involved a combination of programs addressing nutrition, physical activity, and other behaviors.
Our intervention study, consisting of a nutrition education program and nutrition-based environmental interventions, also resulted in positive changes in dietary behaviors. Practical interventions often have a major role in raising health awareness among employees through nutrition education and nutrition-based environmental interventions. To make better use of a health promotion program, it is important to use practical, intervention-based approaches to identify its problems and effects for the generalization of the program to other settings.
In conclusion, collaboration between public health administration and occupational health practitioners is essential to promote the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases in Japan.

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Kiwifruit has a long shelf-stability and is readily available at any time of year. Consequently, it is consumed worldwide including Japan. Kiwifruit, a highly nutritious food containing vitamin C and lutein (a carotenoid), is also rich in dietary fiber. Furthermore, it contains the proteolytic enzyme, actinidin. The digestion-promoting action of actinidin has received attention in recent years.
In this article, the enzymatic properties of actinidin and the results of the latest research examining its digestion-promoting effect, in vitro and in vivo, are presented. These recent findings suggest that actinidin enhanced amino acid absorption, by stimulating the digestion of various food-derived proteins in the gastrointestinal tract, and accelerated the expulsion of gastric contents. Therefore, this suggests that kiwifruit has the potential to facilitate digestion. This, in addition to its high nutritional value, makes kiwifruit favorable for the maintenance and improvement of health.

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Objective: In this study, we evaluated the effects of feeding methods and the weaning period on the intestinal microbiota of infants at a nursery center on a remote island in Okinawa, a prefecture noted for the longevity of its people.
Methods: The study was conducted from October 27 to November 20, 2008. A total of 117 infants were studied, and written consent was obtained for all of the subjects. Evaluation was based on analyses of the intestinal microbiota and a self-completed questionnaire on feeding and weaning. The analyses of the intestinal microbiota were performed by cluster analysis using Nagashima's method of terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism.
Results: When compared by feeding method, the percentages (mean ± standard error) of Bifidobacteria, in the intestinal microbiota were 32.8 ± 11.8%, 24.2 ± 11.1%, and 19.0 ± 8.0% in infants who were breast-fed only, breast-fed and bottle-fed, and bottle-fed only, respectively, and was significantly higher in those who were breast-fed. When compared by weaning period, the percentages (mean ± standard error) of Bifidobacteria in the intestinal microbiota were 20.0 ± 7.4% and 26.3 ± 10.9% in those younger than 6 months of age and those 7 to 14 months of age, respectively, and was significantly higher in the latter group.
Conclusion: To maintain the dominance of effective microorganisms such as Bifidobacteria, which keep the enteral environment of infants healthy, dietary education regarding feeding methods and the weaning period is essential for parents. Information about foods that improve the enteral environment should also be provided to parents and staff at nursery centers.

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Objective: Toward promoting food education and improving dietary life among adult women, we sought to clarify differences in dietary life among working women of different occupation types. We also studied the presence of food education awareness.
Methods: We examined the results of the “Survey on Food Education” conducted by “S” City in 2010. Subjects were 4,000 men and women aged 16-79 living in “S” City, and 1,904 surveys (response rate: 48%) were returned. In the present study, subjects were 511 women between their 30 s and 50 s whose working conditions were known and who were not living alone (valid response rate: 26.8%). We cross-tabulated differences in food education awareness and dietary life by working condition as well as differences in dietary life by presence of food education awareness. These differences were tested using Fisher's exact test.
Results: Subjects were 181 full-timers (35.4%), 145 part-timers (28.4%), and 185 non-workers (36.2%). Some differences existed in dietary life according to differences in working conditions. However, even under the same working conditions, when individuals with different levels of food education awareness were compared, part-timers and non-workers showed differences in dietary life (p < 0.05) by presence of food education awareness, such as “greetings before and after each meal,” while full-timers showed no differences in dietary life by presence of food education awareness.
Conclusions: Among full-time employees with long working hours, no relations existed between presence of food education awareness and dietary life conditions. Thus, improvement of dietary life could be achieved through promotion of food education according to employees' working conditions.

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