The objective of this study is to clarify the relationship between daily physical activity and its related factors, among the elderly living at home in urban and rural Okinawa. A study was conducted in Naha (urban area) and Ohgimi (rural area) in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Subjects included 70 elderly volunteers living at home, aged 65 years and older. From September to October 1994, we measured height, weight and physical activity (using calorie counter and heart rate monitor). We also interviwed the subjects on their academic history, occupation, family status and life habits. After adjustment for potential confounding factors (age, BMI), we found that the rural female group was higher than the urban male and female groups on their daily step counts and energy expenditure of daily physical activity (p <0 .01). The daily total energy expenditure between the groups was not significant. In the multiple regression analysis, age, residence and gardening or housekeeping were significantly related to the daily step counts and energy expenditure of daily physical activity. Age, BMI, residence and gardening or housekeeping were significantly related to the total energy expenditure. We concluded that physical activity differs with respect to age, resisence and gender; but physical activity can be increased in the elderly with daily house chores, community or social activities.

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To understand the relation between mothers' awareness of and attitudes toward diet, as well as their attitudes toward dietary education, and children's awareness of and attitudes toward diet, a questionnaire survey was conducted for 175 pairs of elementary school pupils of the second, fourth and sixth grades and their mothers, 350 subjects in total. Data on the mothers' responses were analyzed by principal component analyses for two categories, awareness of and attitude toward diet, and attitudetoward dietary education. Data on children's awareness of and attitudes toward diet were also analyzed by principal component analyses. The relationships between each principal component for mothers and children were then observed by correlation coefficients of each principal component score . Furthermore, changes in average principal component scores regarding mothers' attitudes toward dietary education, asclassified by attributes of grade and sex, were compared with those regarding children's awareness of and attitudes toward diet, as classified by attributes of grade and sex. The results were as follows: 1) Mothers' attitudes toward dietary education differed depending on the grades of their children. Mothers of children in lower grades paid attention to their children's table manners and gave them a great deal of dietary advice, while mothers of children in higher grades encouraged their children to develop the ability to govern themselves in regards to diet. Such differences in educational contents were reflected in the bases for the establishment of healthy view of diet in lower grades and the development of interest in food in higher grades. 2) The results showed that there were certain peridos when mothers' attitudes toward dietary education differed greatly, depending on whether children were boys or girls. During these periods, view of diet differed among boys and girls corresponding to the differences in dietary education provided by mothers. Mothers with girls corresponding to the differences in dietary education provided by mothers. Motherswith girls in the second and fourth grades had much greater interest in overall dietary education than mothers with boys in the same grades. Mothers of fourth-grade girls were found to have the most enthusiastic attitudes toward dietary education, while mothers of boys in the same grade showed the least enthusiasm, with distinct differences observed. Mothers of sixth-grade boys advised their children how to purchase food outside the home, while mothers of girls in the same grade emphasized meal preparation. On the children's part, there were great differences observed between fourth-grade boys and girls in attention to diet and evaluation of home-made dishes: the girls showed significantly greater interest in food and home-made dishes than the boys. Boys in the sixth grade were clearly interested in eating, but were less interested in meal preparation. On the other hand, girls in the same grade showed greater interest in preparing dishes, and they were less likely to give priority to taste of food, indicating that girls' behavior regarding diet was based on much healthier views of diet than boys.

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Nine hundred and sixty-eight men and women from a wide variety of ages responded to a questionnaire on old age anxiety in Okinawa . The main results are as follows. 1) Bed-ridden status was most cited (63%) as the greatest anxiety in old age . There were interactions between factors of age and region in the bed-ridden status . 2) Anxiety about being bed-ridden was cited the highest in the middle-age group. 3) There was significant age differences in the anxiety about becoming senile, with the young age group being most afraid of it. 4) Men were afraid of the separation by death from their wives . This peaked in the middle age group. 5) For women, anxiety about separation decreased with age. 6) They were not anxious about financial problems in their old age. 7) Lack of anxiety toward aging increased with age. 8) A multivariate analysis of seven anxious events in old age by mean of H ayashi's Quantification Theory Type III yielded four groups . They were named, anxiety of"gliving in a home for the old", "living a life of solitary", "gliving in poverty", and "gdecline of health".a) Most of the people belonged to anxiety of the "decline of health" group.b) The older the group, the more they showed anxiety about?gdecline of health" .c) The younger the group, the more they showed anxiety about"gliving a life ofsolitary".

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In order to clarify the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and exercise, an epidemiological survey was conducted at 14 health centers in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan from September 1994 through March 1995. A total of 5483 peni and postmenopausal women participated in this survey. Second metacarpal BMD was measured by CXD (Computed X-ray Densitometry) method. Information regarding past history of exercise was obtained by questionnaire. ΣS/D <2.3 (ΣS/D: a parameter of BMD) was used to estimate the possibility of osteoporosis. Data on 5124 women aged 40 years and above were analyzed. Subjects were categorized into two groups according to presence (n=1687) or absence (n=3437) (control group) of past history of regular exercise. The main results are as follows: 1) ΣS/D values were significantly (p <0.05) higher in women who have had regular exercise in the past than those of the control group. However, a significant difference among women aged 70 years and above was not found. 2) Ball game, walking and gymnastics were the main exercises. Ball game and walking were popular among the elderly. The periods of past regular exercise paralleled with age, although deviation of the periods increased with age. One day or two days a week was the highest in frequency of exercise performance. 3) Odds ratios were 0.27 (95% CI: 0.08-0.94) for 40-49 years, 0.82 (95% CI: 0.65-1.04) for 50-59 years, 0.78 (95% CI: 0.61-0.99) for 60-69 years, 1.25 (95% CI: 0.67-2.35) for 70 years and above and 0.62 (95% CI: 0.54-0.71) for overall age group: These results suggest that exercise might play a significant role in the prevention of osteoporosis.

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Lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity are known to be associated with coronary heart disease (CHD). In this study, we analyzed the relationships between the dietary habits and the lifestyles and their serum triglyceride levels for 1628 Japanese factory workers aged between 20-59 years old. with their serum triglyceride levels. The survey of dietary habits indicated a significant relationship between serum triglyceride levels and a greasy diet (p <0.01). In the lifestyle survey, a significant relation was found between the frequency of physical exercise and the serum triglyceride levels (p <0.01). There were significant correlations between body mass index and serum triglyceride levels for 20-59 age groups, and VO_2max was also found to have an effect on serum triglyceride levels. No significant relationship was found between cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, or the amount of sleep per day, and serum triglyceride levels. These results suggest that optimal nutrition and physical activity, including weight control, help to prevent CHD

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