[Purpose] This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical fitness, academic achievement, and lifestyle in children, based on a comprehensive view of physical fitness and academic achievement. [Methods] The participants were 1213 children in the sixth grade (620 boys and 593 girls) from elementary schools. Records of their physical fitness, academic tests, and lifestyle habits were obtained from their respective schools. Deviation values for physical fitness and academic achievement were calculated from the results of eight tests and Japanese and arithmetic tests. In the analysis, the participants were classified into five groups based on a combination of high and low physical fitness and academic ability. Chi-square tests and residual analysis were conducted to evaluate the differences in lifestyle among the five groups of high and low physical fitness and high and low academic achievement. [Results and Discussion] Significant associations were found among the following items: exercise time, sleep time, breakfast, study plan, homework grade, class preparation/revision, and study time on weekdays. Detailed residual analysis of the results for exercise, study, and basic habits suggested that: high and low physical fitness were associated with exercise habits, high and low academic achievement were associated with the quantitative aspects of study habits, and high and low physical fitness and academic achievement were associated with the qualitative aspects of study habits and basic lifestyle habits. In particular, groups with low physical fitness and low academic achievement, in which both physical fitness and academic achievement were low, showed a marked disorganization of each habit. These results suggest that the promotion of physical activity and formation of basic habits may be useful in improving physical fitness in children with low levels of both physical fitness and academic achievement.

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Since the ancient times, the center of pressure (COP) sway during the static standing posture has been used in clinical examinations of dizziness and dysequilibrium. To derive a standard value for clinical examination, we need to completely understand the COP sway of healthy people. However, only a few detailed studies based on a large sample have been conducted to date. This study aimed to examine sex and age-level differences in COP sway in the static standing posture and the relationships among COP sway variables in healthy people. Subjects included 2,412 males and females, with ages ranging from 3-90 years. We measured their COP sway with a Romberg posture for 60 sec. For the COP sway variables, we selected length per unit time, environmental area, rectangle area, and standard deviations of X and Y directions. In comparison with the results of Imaoka et al.10), results of the current study showed that the mean value of length per unit time and rectangle area were low in all age-level groups in both sexes, thus indicating varying age-level differences in both sexes. Furthermore, two-way ANOVA (sex × age) results showed significant interactions among all variables. In multiple comparison tests, the variables that showed sex difference varied by age level, and those that showed age-level difference varied in both sexes. In terms of age, the mean values of the COP variables, completely showed the following tendency: high in children aged ≤ 9 years, low in the 20 age group, and increasing from the beginning of the 50s. The values were generally higher in males. The relationships among COP variables in sexes and in group-pooled sexes showed few differences. Furthermore, the relationship between both area variables was very strong. In conclusion, excluding length per unit time and rectangle area, data on the COP sway of modern people show little difference from the findings published 20 years ago (Imaoka et al.10)). The mean value of each COP variable is higher in males and does not change linearly with age （i.e., the mean value for the 20 age group is low）. There are also significant relationships among the variables of length per unit time, area, and standard deviation.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the philosophy of coeducational physical education classes during the introduction of the coeducational system in Japan, by clarifying the rationale for the coeducational physical education classes at that time focusing on the understanding of the Ministry of Education and the discourses of Takeo Ogawa who is a physical education teacher conducted coeducational physical education classes at Matsuzawa Junior High School. The main historical materials examined for this study were Educational Guidance of Physical Education-New direction and curriculum- Edition of Junior high school (Taiiku no gakusyusidou -atarashii hoko to karikyuramu- chugakkohen, 1950) and Teaching in Coeducational setting (Danzyokyogaku no sodatekata, 1949), by Jiro Otsuka who had been working as the vice principal of Matsuzawa Junior High School at that time, and “Coeducation and Physical Education” (Danzyokyogaku to taiiku), a contribution by Ogawa in the same book. The investigation showed that the Ministry of Education and Ogawa understood coeducational physical education classes are “measures” to a specific purpose and the philosophy of coeducational physical education classes are very similar. Firstly, both aimed to help boys and girls understand each other’s characteristics and traits through exercise and sports. Secondly, both expected and valued the boys to become more “masculine” and the girls more “feminine” through the classes. Thirdly, both were oriented to help boys and girls build loving and caring relationships in the classes and acquire the necessary future etiquette and manners for the association between boys and girls. These three points are the philosophy of coeducational physical education classes during the introduction of the coeducational system in Japan. We suggest that the philosophy was influenced by the concept of “education-through-the-physical” which had been popular in physical education classes from 1945 to the 1970s in Japan.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the current status of education using a jump rope in a Japanese elementary school by investigating the actual situation utilizing jump rope in the class and the reference of the activities using a jump rope. The results of this study can be utilized to review the trend research that is changing from teaching methods to the value of teaching materials. This study found more than 90% of the teachers in all grades, used jump rope and about 95% of teachers answered using learning cards for jump rope, and an average period of physical education class was 6.26 hours. It is assumed that teachers’ understanding of the teaching content and their confidence in teaching will increase along with their teaching career. It is necessary for young teachers, who are motivated to participate in teacher education, to understand well the activity of physical fitness using a jump rope. It is expected that practical examples of using ropes and other teaching materials will be guided to the spread of learning about the original purpose of physical fitness.

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The aim of this study was to elucidate dignified and undignified deaths, as recognized by professionals involved with the elderly living in long-term care and local communities. To this end, an interview survey was administered to 14 professionals; two medical practitioners, two visiting nurses, two nurses working in facilities, three care managers, three care workers, and two counselors. With regard to dignified deaths of elderly requiring long-term care, five categories were identified: “keeping one’s personality until the end of life,” “calmly dying without pain in one’s natural course,” “following one’s intention of do-not-resuscitate,” “the family of an elderly person accepts their death with preparedness,” and “dying while being surrounded by one’s family.” Meanwhile, six categories were identified for undignified deaths of elderly requiring long-term care: “death in a hospital,” “appearance without one’s personality,” “cooperation of one’s family cannot be obtained,” “sudden death without building a relationship of trust,” “the family of an elderly person cannot accept their death,” and “the death of an elderly person whose wish does not come true.”

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This study aimed to investigate the difference in the decontamination status after handwashing among nurses with varied fingernail lengths and to determine the appropriate fingernail length during nursing practice from the viewpoint of infection prevention. Participants were classified into four groups: Group 1 (‹0.5 mm), Group 2 (0.5–‹1.0 mm), Group 3 (1.0–‹1.5 mm), and Group 4 (1.5–‹2.0 mm). To determine the amount of dirt under the fingernails and fingertips before and after handwashing, we measured the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) (A3 method) levels. No significant difference was found between the groups before handwashing, but Group 1 had the highest ATP (A3 method) value. After handwashing, the amount of dirt significantly decreased in all four groups, but the difference in the rate of decrease was insignificant among these groups. In other words, dirt tends to adhere to the tip of the nail of ≤0.5 mm in length, and we found no difference in the way the dirt fell off if the nail was ‹2.0 mm. Therefore, a length of ≥0.5–‹2.0 mm may be used as the appropriate fingernail lengths for nurses and nursing students.

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This study aimed to examine the relationship between knowledge retention and utilization awareness of junior high school health education and attitudes toward health and health classes among university students. The subjects were 665 university students (315 males, 346 females, and four non-respondents). A total of 72 questions that corresponded to the contents of each unit of the Courses of Study were used to examine the level of knowledge retention. The subjects were divided into three groups according to the number of correct answers. In addition, they were asked regarding their awareness of the use of health knowledge, willingness to take health classes in junior high school, perception of the value of the health classes, current level of health interest, and academic performance in junior high school. A chi-square test was performed, and residuals were analyzed when significant associations were found. The results of the analysis showed that there was no significant relationship between knowledge retention and utilization awareness, which suggested that different factors influenced them. In addition, higher knowledge retention and utilization awareness were significantly related to higher motivation to attend junior high school health classes and higher level of current health interest among university students, respectively. These findings suggest the need for class practices that focus on the utilization of acquired knowledge through the development of teaching methods and materials.

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