This study was conducted in order to clarify the effects of nutrition classes conducted at a nursing home for the elderly, especially whether the classes would improve the eating habits of the residents and result in the formation of better relationships between the facility and the local residents. We conducted the nutrition classes using the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top. We divided the subjects into two groups, an intervention group composed of subjects who attended the nutrition classes and responded to a questionnaire (intervention group, n=14), and composed of subjects who only responded to the same questionnaire (non-invention group, n=12). As a result, it seemed that the nutrition classes improved the knowledge of the subjects in the intervention group concerning nutrition and the understanding of the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top. All of the participants in the intervention group colored their Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top in the nutrition classes, and when we posted the colored guides in the dining room of the facility, it became clear that there was a ripple effect to the staff and the other residents at the facility. Moreover, all of the participants thoroughly enjoyed the classes and expressed the wish for more nutrition classes. Almost all of the subjects thought that nutrition classes would trigger better relationships between the facility and the local residents. These results also suggested that nutrition classes conducted at nursing homes can improve food consumption and eating habits.

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