The purpose and methods of this paper are as follows: 1) First, the training courses at the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) related to Health Japan 21 (the second term), which ran from 2013 to 2022, were reviewed. The review focused on (1) changes in the themes and issues of the training programs, (2) progress in the training methods and contents, and (3) project-related collaborations with other organizations as well as dissemination; 2) Next, the outcomes for the local governments that participated in the NIPH training were identified. This focused on comparisons of (1) progress in health promotion plans, between the group of local governments with a large number of participants, and the group with a small number of participants, and (2) certain indicators for Health Japan 21 (the second term), between the group of local governments with a large number of participants, and the group with a small number of participants, using published data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey; and, 3) Finally, future training at the NIPH was discussed.
The results were as follows:
1) The main theme for the Health Japan 21 Training course was “the planning of countermeasures and the creation of a system for resolving nutrition and dietary habits related to high-priority health issues;”
2) The training methods were conducted as follows: (1) The elements for nutritional measures to produce achievements in administrative dietician guidelines were shown, and (2) materials were presented for putting the guidelines into practice; (3) For the monitoring, evaluation, and review of health promotion plans, materials for understanding various survey results and tools for statistical analysis were created, and health issues were confirmed using them; (4) To proceed with the above analysis in local governments, long-term training at the NIPH was provided; (5) Measures were planned and coordinated using worksheets to improve nutrition and eating habits related to health issues; and, (6) In cooperation with other organizations (such as the Japan Public Health Association and the Japan Dietetic Association), programs were carried out to deepen and disseminate the training content of the NIPH.
3) The training courses had the following effects on the health promotion plans of local governments: (1) the group of local governments with a large number of participants identified disparities between areas and conducted a health promotion plan for working persons; and, (2) With reference to the effects of the indicators of Health Japan 21 (the second term), no difference was seen in the average BMI between the two groups in 2012. However, it was significantly lower in the group of local government with a larger number of participants in 2016. In addition, while no difference was seen in the average number of steps between the two groups in 2012, it was significantly higher in the group of local governments with a larger number of participants in 2016.
Although there are some limitations, it is thought that it is possible to evaluate the long-term effects of training at the NIPH using published data from existing surveys. For this purpose, it will be necessary to investigate the status of various indicators of health promotion plans of prefectures and municipalities at the time of formulation and interim and final evaluation, and to publish appropriate data continuously.
In addition, in this investigation, we attempted a long-term evaluation of two short-term training courses. However, it may be necessary to consider a standard long-term evaluation method for the entire range of training courses at the NIPH.
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