Objectives The association between normal weight obesity and diet behavior and physical activity in female students was investigated in this study.
Methods The subjects were 530 female students aged 18–21 years from 6 universities in the Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. From January to July, 2010, the body fat and walk counts of these students were measured, and they answered a questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on life environment, perception of body shape, dieting experiences, physical activities, sleeping habits, and diet behaviors. The Eating Attitude Test–26 (EAT–26) was used to evaluate diet behavior. Students with normal weight (18.5≦ body mass index <25 kg/m²; n=439) were divided into high (n=115), middle (n=213), and low (n=111) groups according to their percentage of body fat. Further, a comparative analysis was performed among the 3 groups.
Results From the results of the questionnaire, perception of body shape, desire for a particular body shape, reason for weight loss, success or failure in dieting, and time for sleep were significantly different among the 3 groups. Differences in physical activity were not significant among the groups. Factor III (Oral control) of EAT–26 was higher in the high group than in the low group.
Conclusion High body fat was associated with diet behavior and a desire to lose weight in normal weight students. These results indicate that health education is necessary to establish and maintain appropriate body fat composition and dietary habits.

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Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of sensitivity to cold or hiesho in pregnant Japanese women and to examine the relationship between hiesho and premature labor.
Methods In this retrospective cohort study in Japanese women after delivery, information for the approximately 12 months between October 19, 2009 and October 8, 2010 was obtained using questionnaire surveys and medical records at 6 hospitals with obstetric and pediatric departments in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Further, in this analysis, confounding factors were adjusted by performing analysis of covariance and stratified analysis using propensity scores. The Research Ethics Review Committee of St. Luke's College of Nursing (09–057) approved this study.
Results Analysis of data from 2,810 women was performed. Regarding the correlation between hiesho and premature labor, the incidence of premature labor was 3.38 times higher (analysis of covariance) or 3.47 times higher (stratified analysis) among pregnant women with hiesho than among those without hiesho (P<0.001).
Conclusion The results of this study proved the existing discussions that there is a correlation between hiesho during the latter stages of pregnancy and incidence of premature labor.

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[in Japanese]

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Objectives Mental diseases such as schizophrenia and depression put patients at risk for suicide. It is extremely important to understand that one way of preventing suicide is to determine the actual mental state of the individual. The purpose of this study was to analyze the true mental state of suicide victims reported in the vital statistics.
Methods This study investigated the vital statistics of 30,299 suicide victims in Japan in 2008. The use of these basic statistics for non-statistical purposes was approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The method involved reviewing the Vital Statistics Survey Death Form at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as well as analyzing their Online Reporting of Vital Statistics. Furthermore, this study was able to validate 29,799 of the 30,299 suicides (98.3%) that occurred in 2008. Mental diseases were validated not only from the “Cause of death” section as marked on the death certificate, but also by information found in sections for “Additional items for death by external cause” and “Other special remarks.”
Results From the Vital Statistics Survey Death Form and Online Reporting of Vital Statistics, 2964 individuals with either a mental disease or mental disorder were identified. Of the 2964 identified individuals, 55 had dementia (of which 13 were dementia in Alzheimer's disease), 116 had alcohol dependence/psychotic disorder, 550 had schizophrenia, 101 had bipolar affective disorder, 1,913 has had a depressive episode, 13 had obsessive-compulsive disorder, 22 had adjustment disorders, 14 had eating disorders, 49 had nonorganic sleep disorders, 24 had personality disorder, and 6 had pervasive developmental disorders. In addition, 125 individuals had more than one mental disease.
Conclusion The national police statistics from 2008 show that 1,368 suicide victims had schizophrenia and 6,490 had depression. These figures show quite a difference between the results of this study and the police statistics. Further, there have been controversies regarding autopsies of suicide victims. Thus, further investigation into the cause of death is of great importance.

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[in Japanese]

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