This study examined the effects of a 2-day in-service teacher training program sponsored by a board of education on education helping students to avoid HIV/AIDS risk behaviors. Effects were assessed in three areas: evaluation of the training process, evaluation of the training impact, and teachers' prognoses for the skills-based HIV/AIDS education program. Data for this study were collected from 180 teachers during the school years 1995 through 1997. Following the program, roughly 90% of participants evaluated the training style based on group work as being easy to understand and enjoyable, with 75% of participants indicating that they understood the skills. Statistically significant increases were found between pre and post-training in teachers' recognition of the need to teach the skills as part of HIV/AIDS education and their confidence in teaching those skills. Approximately 90% of participants were shown as anticipating that it would be easy and enjoyable for students to learn with the skills-based HIV/AIDS education program.

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Purpose: By examining actual conditions of it in terms of time and space, to determine the environmental factors relating to solitary eating among high school students, and the psychological factors for it arising from personal causes as well as family relationships.
Methods: Questionnaires were given to 674 students, male and female, from two classes of each grade at three metropolitan high schools in the Tama district of Tokyo. Subjects were questioned about tendencies to eat dinner alone, as well as whether or not they'd experienced eating in a separate room apart from the family dining room, and how frequently. In addition, questionnaire items dealing with the relationship between solitary eating and lifestyles, eating habits, family relationships, and how subjects perceived the dining table were analyzed.
Results: (1) Of the subjects, male and female, who had tendencies toward eating alone, about 50% ate breakfast alone, and just over 10% ate dinner alone. About 30% of subjects, male and female, experienced eating alone in a separate room more than once a month. (2) Of subjects who tended to eat dinner alone, there was found to be a positive correlation between their returning home after nine o'clock, attendance at juku, college preparatory schools, or working part-time; and a negative correlation with their school club activities. There was a positive correlation between experiences of eating separately and alone, and working part-time. (3) The more the students showed tendencies toward solitary eating, or had experienced eating apart from their families, the fewer the students who felt their parents thought of their feelings, or who felt they spent quality time together with their families. Many of these students wished to leave home. (4) Among those who exhibited tendencies toward solitary eating at dinner (either in the dining room or in a separate room), or who have experienced it in the past, the number of the students who perceived the dining table as a place to communicate or to make contact with their families was small, And among subjects who have experienced eating alone in a separate room, many of them perceived the dining table as a place to receive scoldings.
Conclusion: (1) There are physical, time-restrictive influences such as school activities or part-time work causing solitary eating at dinner among high school students. (2) As for those who ate alone away from their family dining room, there is a tendency to perceive the dining table as a place to receive scoldings regardless of restrictions by the family members' schedule differences. (3) Solitary eating among high school students has been influenced by their negative images of their family relationships or the dining table.

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Aim: To analyze qualitatively how participants recognize their own life style and acquire motivation for controlling body-weight while participating in a health education process.
Methods: Individuals in a health education program class in daily-life instruction were divided into two groups. Members in each group exchanged opinions as to how they could improve their dietary life and life-style. In the first group, the opinion exchange was without guidance and only among participants. In the second group, the opinion exchange in subgroups of 3-4 participants and a specialist. At the end of the class, the participants filled out a questionnaire concerning what they noted or felt in the class. A qualitative analysis, based on questionnaire responses, was used to compare the responses for each group.
Results: Comparison of the responses between the two groups revealed that the manner in which the opinion exchange was conducted had a major influence on the responses to motivation. Specifically, participants in the first group noted “each person was different from others”. Participants in the second group felt at ease “because there were no marked differences among them”. Participants in both groups reported “the opinion exchange was pleasant”. Those in the first group evaluated the opinion exchange as conversational, whereas those in the second group thought the exchange to be more on the order of “listening to talks”. With regard to their attitude toward the motivation to control the body-weight, participants in the first group thought “they would make as much effort as they could”, whereas those in the second group thought “they would make efforts in order to keep up with the others”.
Conclusions: The results of the qualitative analysis indicate that participants recognize their life style and the basis of their motivation according to the way in which they participate in the health education. For future studies we need more detailed analysis of the relationship between the persistence of motivation and the style of participation. Moreover, in order to select a practical target for behavior modification, we need to examine how a specialist should be involved.

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In this study, we tried to develop and implement a program for walking that included diet and nutrition-related information as a gateway for behavioral change. An effective physical activity intervention should accelerate from pre-action stages into action stages. However, it may be difficult to have a population showing lower readiness for physical activity, such as subjects in pre-action stages start an exercise program, because they have no cognition of the need for or interest in exercise or physical activity. Therefore, we developed a unique intervention program for walking, including information regarding diet and nutrition, which is mostly adopted as a health seeking behavior in Japan. Moreover in this intervention program, we utilized behavioral theories and skills to enhance the adoption and maintenance of physically active lifestyles. Indeed, we instructed them on goal setting and self-monitoring, as behavioral skills, so that they could comply with the intervention program..
The result of this study showed that the frequency of walking session per week significantly increased from 1.31 (baseline) to 3.31 (post-intervention) . And after 4 month on the program, this variable was even higher compared to the baseline value. This result suggested that diet and nutrition-related information was a potential gateway for compliance and that this intervention program, including behavioral skills was effective to enhance the adoption and maintenance of physically active lifestyles.

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The purpose of this study, in the area of health promotion, is to help students to acquire the ability to use what they have learned about exercise and health.
In order to accomplish the above purpose, I studied developing a curriculum which relates health education and physical education. For the seventh grade students, I conducted a health education class about aerobics and the strength of exercise. I also had a physical education class on middle-distance races. I utilized a table based on The Karvonen method for the strength of exercise.
After the study, I found that the students were able to exercise according to their ability using the table of the strength of exercise. I believe that developing the above curriculum improved not only the students' motivation in health education, but also their motivation for middle-distance racing in physical education.

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Purpose: We obtained information from yogo teachers at elementary and junior and senior high schools through a questionnaire regarding the use of personal computers and made a study for the purpose of facilitating the use of personal computer as future educational aids.
Method: We investigated the use of personal computers for health and dental health education at schools, the ways and purposes of using them, the contents and teaching materials, and sources of information for dental health education at schools, and requested for comments and opinions. It was sent out to 940 schools in total and returned from 557 schools (59.3%) .
Results: Fifty five point three percent of all responders at elementary schools, 69.5% at junior high schools and 76.9% at senior high schools were using personal computers for health education at schools. The most frequent reason not for using them was that “they are too difficult to use.” They were most often used as “word processors” or for “processing for medical checkup data and guidance to individuals” or “graphic display of data.” Their purposes were “improvement of pupils' and students' awareness of health” and “guidance to individuals.”
On the other hand, 25.5% of all responders at elementary schools, 30.5% at junior high schools and 53.7% at senior high schools were using personal computers for dental health at schools. However, very few personal computers were used for dental health education at schools. Dental health education focused on the “causes of dental caries and periodontal disease” and “tooth brushing and plaque control.” Most of teaching materials were “literal” or “pictorial” and, at elementary schools, “moving pictures” also were often used. Few schools were using “home pages” as a source of information.
Conclusion: Finding suggested that personal computers are not so frequently used to provide teaching materials or as a source of information for health education by yogo teachers. It also reveals that they do not have a sufficient number of personal computers and have not established a favorable operating environment in terms of software and instructors at schools. Nevertheless, most of them want to positively use personal computers as useful educational aids.
[J.J.H.E.P. 2004; 12 (1) : 49-59]

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