Few studies have focused on subjective well-being in adulthood in Japan, and the results have not been consistent with the changes in age. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the state of subject well-being and the factors that influence it among adults residing in large housing complexes. It focused on a large-scale housing complex, referred to as Housing Complex B, located in core city A in the Kinki area. A total of 1,987 households in the three zones of Housing complex B were selected as participants’ households. Between November and December 2021, an anonymous self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the participants’ households in a group post. A total of 155 completed questionnaires (7.8%) were received, from which 141 questionnaires were included in the analysis. The relationship between subjective well-being and the independent variables was examined using two-sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the effects of the independent variables on subjective well-being.

Most participants were female (60%) and in their 50s. The results revealed significant variations in the subjective well-being of different age groups, with subjective well-being having a U-shaped curve (known as the happiness curve). Moreover, subjective well-being was found to increase with the increase in the duration of residence. Furthermore, significantly higher subjective well-being was observed in single-person households, those who did not feel financially secure, those who had a low subjective sense of health, and those who received only emotional support. This suggests the existence of a well-being paradox and highlights the need for future research to explore relationships, values, and ways to alleviate negative interactions, as they may hold the key to addressing health issues in adulthood.

Comprehensive food atlases, which are extensively-researched books on a large variety of foods, developed for estimating food weights during dietary assessment of usual melas. As similar foods are served in evacuation shelters, an estimation aid specifically developed for emergency situations might help individuals easily discover the target food and reduce their burden of research. Herein, we developed a novel, compact estimation aid for disaster shelters and examined the usefulness of it. Of the 82 meals served at 12 evacuation shelters during the heavy rain disaster in Kumamoto in July 2020, 16 boxed-meal food items were investigated, and their photographs, food labelling numbers, and names were provided in the aid. Furthermore, four boxed-meal photographs were utilized for estimation. Thirty-three senior students enrolled in a registered dietitian training course were asked to estimate food weights twice, with and without the aid (participation rate＝89%). When using the aid, the number of students who could estimate three or four meals within±10% of error for energy was doubled, between-estimator variation was reduced to one-third, and average estimation time was reduced by 6.7 min. The estimation aid helped estimate the portion size and types of foods served in shelters and reduce trouble for information retrieval.