This study aimed to clarify the effects of wearing Japanese-style sandals, which was conducted as a part of barefoot education on sole shape and position of the center of foot pressure （CFP） in preschool children. The subjects were 81 healthy children ages 4 to 5 （sandal group：28；control group：53) . Both groups were conducting indoor barefoot education. The sandal group wore sandals when commuting to school, going for a walk and playing outdoors for four months. The control group wore casual shoes in that time. The ground contact area of the soles and CFP were measured before and after four months （run-in period） in both groups. In the sandal group, the ground contact area of the foot became smaller with the formation of arch of foot. Specifically, a marked effect was found in the five-year-old children. As for CFP, there were significant changes in both groups. However, a change in the CFP towards the front of foot in the sandal group was large and the position of CFP varied from negative to positive along the Y-coordinate in the five-year-old children. From this, it is inferred that the effects of using Japanese-style sandals on changes in childrenʼs feet are large, even in preschools that use barefoot education.

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The purpose of this study was to collect basic data to make physical activity guidelines for Japanese elementary school children. The method investigated physical activity （step counts, amount of physical activity, activity time, a total energy consumption, walking distance, exercise strength） using a life coda. In addition, fitness test was incorporated to examine physical strength （pitching distance, running speed, jumping distance, muscular strength, and running stamina etc) . A significant difference （p＜0.05） in the amount of physical activity between the boys who ranked high on the physical strength test and those who ranked low on the physical test was found. For the girls, a significant difference （p＜0.05） for the amount of physical exercise, total energy consumption and walking distance was found between the higher and lower ranked groups. In addition, for the boys, a correlation was found between the amount of physical exercise, total energy consumption and total score on the fitness test （r＝0.238-0.263, p＜0.05) . For the girls, a correlation was found between the amount of physical exercise, total energy consumption and walking distance （r＝0.196-0.232, p＜0.05) . It is suggested that the values for the amount of physical activity in the higher ranked physical strength groups for the boys （327.7±101.2 kcal） and girls （214.7±71.8 kcal) , as well as, the total energy consumption for girls （1870±220 kcal） be used as the targeted values for developing physical strength in elementary school children.

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Mothersʼ dissatisfaction with their child-rearing experience may adversely influence the playing and exercise behavior of their children ； however, this relationship remains unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mothersʼ dissatisfaction with child-rearing and the physical fitness characteristic of their young children. The subjects were 2,720 young children （1,379 boys and 1,341 girls ； age range ： 3.0-6.0 years） and their mothers. We administered physical fitness tests consisting of 10 exercises to these children. Each test score was divided every sex and 0.5 years, and we calculated individual T-score. We also administered questionnaires about child-rearing to their mothers. The results showed that young children whose mothers constantly felt dissatisfied with child-rearing had low physical fitness （always feel dissatisfied ； 49.1, sometimes ； 50.0, rarely ； 50.1) . Furthermore, mothers who constantly felt dissatisfied in child-rearing were significantly lower percentage that play or exercise with their children （constantly feel dissatisfied ； 53.6％, sometimes ； 76.2％, rarely ； 80.9％) , and they also tended to be the primary child-rearing figures in their families. On the basis of these results, we suggest that parents must cooperate in child rearing to alleviate the mothersʼ sense of dissatisfaction and thereby improve the physical fitness of their children.

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