Maintaining and improving strength and muscle that decline with age requires doing activities in one's daily life. In this study, using walking speed as an index, we investigated whether long-term nutritional intervention using leucine enriched jelly is effective for improving the walking ability of frail elderly people at home.

  We divided the frail elderly at home into an intervention group (8 cases) using a leucine enriched jelly and a control group (6 cases). We then intervened with them over a period of 13 months. We also performed walking measurements, dietary surveys, MNA^Ⓡ-SF, and BMI calculations before and after the intervention period. Free walking speed, step-length, step-rate, and walk ratio were calculated from the walking measurements.

  It was confirmed that the addition of leucine enriched jelly to the elderly's diet improved the walking speed of the elderly, as well as their BMI, step-length, step-rate, and walk ratio. On the other hand, in cases where walking speed decreased, BMI also decreased, but the walk ratio, which is largely responsible for stable walking that prevents falls, improved. From these results, long-term nutritional intervention using leucine enriched jelly was effective in improving the walking ability of frail elderly people at home, and helped maintain or improve their BMI. However, it is necessary to study the walking speed and walk ratio to further improve the walking ability of frail elderly individuals.

  In 2001, we conducted a dietary survey to clarify how breakfast intake and living conditions of children and diet awareness of parents were associated with children's eating habits. The results of the present survey were compared with the results of the previous survey. The surveys were conducted in July 2001 and 2017 in A city. Self-reporting questionnaires were distributed to parents of children attending kindergarten and nursery school. A total of 387 (67.7%, 2001) and 381 (84.7%, 2017) responses were returned. The 2017 survey revealed that children's regularity of life was higher, 98% of children were consuming breakfast every morning and breakfast consumption patterns were diverse. From the results, it may be said that parents have the motivation to improve their children's eating habits. We were able to broadly categorise the diet awareness of these parents into four groups, and, compared with the results of the 2001 survey, we found an increase in the proportion of respondents who fell into the healthy eating habits category. In the future, we would like to consider the quality of breakfasts that parents serve their children.

  We researched how effective VR educational materials for fire handling are in helping children apply what they learned from them in the home. We divided twenty-two private girl's high school students aged 16-18 years old into two groups, one of which used VR materials to learn how to handle fire. We measured the SD and CV, calculated by converting heart rate into R-R interval values, and the cooking time, and evaluated the learning achievement using a rubric and questionnaire. As a result, the cooking time was significantly longer in the VR learning group than in the non-VR learning group, and the fire safety precautions taken during cooking and the rubric in terms of fire safety management were significantly higher. Therefore, it is suggested that learning from VR teaching materials for fire handling are effective in changing awareness of safety confirmation among students and improving their learning achievement.

  The discriminating ability of female college students majoring in food science for sweet taste were examined by a sensory test, and its relation to preference for sweet taste were studied. To determine the discriminating ability for sweetness and saltiness, sucrose solution or salt solution of different concentrations were used. Orange jellies and rolled omelets with different sugar concentrations were also used for estimating the discriminating ability for sweetness and preference for sweetness. Students who correctly discriminated different concentrations of both sucrose solution and salt solution had higher discriminating ability for the sweetness of rolled omelets. Students who correctly discriminated the sweetness of orange jellies had higher discriminating ability for the sweetness of rolled omelets. Students preferring sweeter orange jellies had higher discriminating ability for them. Students whose family members had a sweet tooth preferred sweeter orange jellies. However, students recognized that their fondness for sweet taste did not necessarily mean that they had a superior discriminating ability for sweetness.

  The present study focused on the Japanese diet, touted for its health benefits, from 1975 to 1980, and examined menu composition and cooking characteristics of dinner menus published in the magazine Eiyo to Ryori (Nutrition and Cookery).

  The results revealed that 46.9% of the menus were ichiju-nisai menus and 19.8% were ichiju-sansai menus. The staple foods were white rice (55.6%), seasoned rice (18.5%) and bread (16.1%), and white rice was often combined in ichiju-nisai and ichiju-sansai menus. As for soups, 56.8% were Japanese soups such as miso soup or sumashi jiru (clear soups), 29.6% were Western soups and 13.6% were Chinese soups. Japanese soups were featured in 79.6% of ichiju-sansai menus. The main ingredient of the first dish (the main dish) was fish and seafood (36.0%), and meat (47.7%). Ichiju-nisai menus often featured meat, while ichiju-sansai menus frequently featured fish and seafood. The main ingredients of the second and third dishes were vegetables (67.4%), and salads were frequently featured in both nisai (two side dishes) and ichiju-nisai menus. In other words, the combination of dishes differed depending on menu planning. It was revealed that ichiju-sansai menus often combined white rice, fish and seafood, aemono (dishes tossed in a seasoned dressing) and nimono (dishes simmered in broth) other than salads.