健康食品の使用に及ぼす生活習慣およびストレスの影響について，管理栄養士養成課程の3年次生（159名）を対象として横断調査を行った。健康食品に対してもつ個人的な認知（本研究ではイメージと呼称する）についても検討した。本研究は，自記式アンケートにより，対象者の属性，健康食品（健康増進を目的としたすべての食品およびサプリメント）の使用経験，生活習慣，ストレス状況，健康食品に対するイメージ（19項目）を調査した。健康食品の使用とさまざまな要因との関連は，χ²検定，ウィルコクソン順位和検定により解析した。健康食品の使用に及ぼす生活習慣とストレスの影響は，ロジスティック回帰分析により解析した。

　対象者のうち前月からの定期的な健康食品使用者は18.9％であった。最も使用の多い健康食品は，マルチビタミンとビタミンB群であった。対象者が健康食品に対してもつイメージで最も多かったのは，「栄養素の補給」であった。イメージのうち，健康食品の使用者と非使用者との違いは「効果が疑わしい」であり，これは非使用者が多く回答した。健康食品の使用は，飲酒とストレスの増加に伴い増加した。健康食品の使用の増大は，管理栄養士としての健康食品の推奨に影響を与える可能性がある。将来，管理栄養士になった場合には，個人的な経験に基づいて健康食品に関する情報を提供すべきではない。管理栄養士は医療に関する専門家として，客観的な証拠と患者のニーズに基づいた意思決定を行うように教育されるべきである。健康食品に関する大学教育と継続した生涯教育の充実が期待される。

　In order to promote the effective use of mirin lees, which is a large amount of squeezed meal produced in the pressing process of mirin brewing, its function and processed food using mirin lees were verified. Since mirin is known to have antioxidative ability, it is expected that its pomace has a similar function, so the peroxyl-radical scavenging activity was measured.

　As a result, the radical scavenging activity was low in raw mirin lees, but the scavenging activity tended to increase depending on the storage and aging period of the lees. From the change in color difference, it was speculated that the production of browning substances due to the aminocarbonyl reaction was largely involved. The antioxidant ability of the cookies and the radish pickled with mirin lees also increased with the use of the lees with a long storage aging period. Furthermore, from the sensory test, it was suggested that it is necessary to improve the palatability by examining the ingredients used and the blending ratio. From the above results, it is considered that the possibility of new utilization development of mirin lees with added functionality is expanded.

　We focused on three cooking methods of rice porridge that is the first solid food given to infants: "rice in a pot”, "using the rice porridge mode on a rice cooker”, and "cooked rice in a pot”. The findings revealed that the gelatinization degree of all sample was about 95%. "Using the rice porridge mode on a rice cooker” had the highest amount of amylose and reducing sugars in 1.0g of rice porridge liquid, which was consistent with the properties at the end of cooking. The amount of reducing sugars produced was highest in the "cooked rice in a pot” since it took a long time to reach the deactivation temperature of the starch degrading enzyme. However, the concentrations of reducing sugars, amylose and eluted solids in the rice porridge liquid were lowest because i) water was added to cooked rice, which has low water absorbability; ii) the amount of added water was higher than other methods; and iii) the heating time in pot cooking after adding water was shorter. Because the heating time at 90°C or higher of "cooked rice in a pot” is shorter than other methods, it had the hardest rice grains. As shown above, even though all the heating conditions used in the present study were designed to make "jyubai-gayu”, hardness and viscosity varied depending on heating conditions.

　Some mushrooms are known to be edible and have functional properties well. In this study, different mushrooms and their parts were analyzed for antioxidant activity and mineral content. The four kinds of mushrooms examined, namely Agrocybe cylindracea (Shakkiko1and Shakkiko2), Grifola gargal and Coprinus comatus (Coprino: Iwade-51 strain), were divided into caps, stipes, and base of stipes and were freeze-dried and powdered. The powdered samples were extracted using distilled water, and the antioxidant activity was evaluated by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. For evaluating the contents of three minerals (Fe, Cu, and Mn), the powdered samples were extracted using aqueous HCl, and the mineral contents were determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer. C. comatus showed the highest overall antioxidant activity; however, different parts of the mushrooms revealed different antioxidant activity values. The base of the stipes showed the highest Mn contents; consequently, we found differences in the amount of minerals among different parts of the fruiting body. Interestingly, the antioxidant activity of the evaluated specimens showed a positive correlation with Cu content.

　This study investigated how the flavors and forms of daycare lunches influence their consumption by young children -a proxy for childhood preferences- toward a meal-based investigation to inform strategies for reducing food waste and pickiness in early childhood. The volume of food eaten at lunch by children aged 3 to 5 enrolled at a childcare center were recorded and analyzed with respect to the characteristics of the corresponding menu items. A principal component analysis was conducted to determine the relative contribution of different qualities -salt and sugar content, acidity, hardness, cohesiveness, and adhesiveness- to the volume of each food consumed. The first factor, named seasoning/hardness, is composed of sugar content, hardness, and salt content, all of which showed a strong and positive correlation with consumption volume. The second factor is ease of swallowing and made up of cohesiveness and adhesiveness, which have a significant positive and negative correlation with consumption volume, respectively. In some classes, multiple regression analysis revealed a weak negative relationship between unserved food and seasoning/hardness, and a weak positive relationship between leftover food and seasoning/hardness as well as ease of swallowing. Our results suggest that richness of flavor and ease of swallowing are major predictors to why small children take second helpings or leave food uneaten.