Objective: We developed a visual aid on pesticide residue to promote better consumer understanding of risk control regarding amounts of pesticide residue in food, and examined the aid's effect on consumer risk perception relative to different design elements.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted for 80 graduate and undergraduate students to examine how participants would evaluate the risk posed by different levels of pesticide residue when the explanation was given using (1) text only, (2) text and a cumulative normal distribution function graph, or (3) text and an illustration vertically representing the amount of pesticide residue. After being presented with one of these three explanation conditions, participants were asked to use visual analogue scales to evaluate the risk presented in three separate scenarios. Data were subsequently analyzed using chi-square tests, with a correct response (CR) dichotomously defined as one in which the relative magnitude of the evaluated risk was sequentially congruent with the amount of pesticide residue presented.
Results: The results revealed differences between the overall expected and obtained CR ratios among explanation types for all questions (p\<0.05). A residual analysis indicated that CRs occurred more consistently than expected for the “text and illustration” condition (59.3-70.4%). Meanwhile, no difference was found between the expected and actual ratio of CRs for the “text only” condition (41.4-55.2%), and the ratio of CRs for the “text and graph” condition was lower than expected for two of the questions (16.7-33.3%).
Conclusion: One-dimensional illustration (text and illustration) is easier to understand and thus more useful as a tool to promote consumer risk perception on pesticide residue in food than the two-dimensional cumulative normal distribution function graph.

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Objective: To identify factors leading to unsuccessful weight loss through the specific health guidance program undertaken by male workers.
Methods: We asked 63 male workers from four corporate health insurance societies in Kanto, Japan who had no change in body weight (<1%) during the six-month specific health guidance program for the participation. We obtained consent from 36 male workers and conducted in-depth interviews for approximately 30 minutes. We undertook a qualitative analysis of the data from 28 males who matched our weight change criteria. We analyzed the transcripts using the grounded theory and the participants were classified according to the category patterns that emerged based on causal factors.
Results: Three categories—“No perception for need,” “Strong sense of give up for work,” “Distrustfulness to the system”—were extracted as background factors from the transcripts. Five categories-e.g., “No sense of critical feeling as own matter”, “Sense of obligation”-were extracted as causal conditions. We sorted participants based on category overlapping until unsuccessful weight loss, and then categories were divided into seven different patterns.
Conclusion: As a result of evaluating the factors related to unsuccessful weight loss of male workers, we identified seven category patterns. “Sense of obligation” and “Objection” of causal conditions, and “Distrustfulness to the system” of background factors were indicated to be unique factors for the specific health guidance program.

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Objective: According to the World Health Organization, health promotion efforts are most successful when a holistic health promoting environment is created rather than focusing myopically on individual-level cognition and behavior. We examined the importance of the surrounding environment when public health nurses (PHNs) conduct health guidance exercises and determined related PHN background factors.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was sent to 149 PHNs working at health checkup centers in seven different prefectures in the western region of Japan. Overall, 83 PHNs met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and submitted for assessment. The questionnaire consisted of items covering 1) cognition regarding the importance of surrounding environment factors and the thought process and subsequent behavior of those receiving health guidance, and 2) PHNs' professional background. Relationships among measured factors were analyzed by chi-square or Mann-Whitney tests, as appropriate.
Results: Although more than 70% of participants indicated “informational environment” and “sociocultural environment at home” as important, fewer indicated the importance of “social environment” and “sociocultural environment at worksite.” The latter set of variables was unrelated to PHNs' years of health guidance experience. However, the proportion of PHNs citing the importance of surrounding environment factors was lower among those who had support opportunities beyond health guidance compared to those with fewer such opportunities, especially in terms of the three items under the “social environment” category and the two items under the “sociocultural environment at worksite” category.
Conclusion: The importance of “social environment” and “socio-cultural environment at worksite” is generally not ranked as highly as that of other environmental factors among the surveyed PHNs. Such findings were especially salient among respondents who had support opportunities beyond health guidance compared with those who had fewer such opportunities.

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Objective: We evaluated the usefulness of a newly-developed workplace walking program that encourages increased walking behavior by sending newsletters via e-mail.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, study participants were recruited from 210 employees of Company A in K prefecture. Thirty-five participants enrolled in one of two 4-month walking programs and completed questionnaires. Based on the lifestyle settings of the workers who walked for health benefits, this program delivered newsletters via work emails or personal cell phone text messages. These newsletters informed participants about walking strategies in the workplace and were delivered once a week throughout the four-month walking program. Usefulness of the program was evaluated qualitatively based on the survey responses of the 20 respondents who participated in the first walking program. Walking times and behaviors of the participants were assessed before and after participation in the 4-month walking programs.
Results: Increases in time spent walking were significantly greater among participants in the experimental group than among those in the control group (mean inter-group difference in walking time change: 60 min/week, [p = 0.02]). The experimental group saw significant increases in times spent walking in the workplace after participating in the walking program (pre-post mean difference in walking time change: 50 long/min/week, [p = 0.02]).
Conclusion: A workplace walking program delivered via email and text messaging promotes improved walking behavior among workers.

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Purpose: Social Determinants of Health (SDH), including economic, social, political, and environmental factors, affect people's health. Wider cooperation among different sectors of society is necessary to solve health issues. We conducted a review of SDH studies, presented at the 21st IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion 2013, with the purpose of introducing the latest trend of SDH studies to the readers.
Methods: We searched the conference abstract database with a keyword of “social determinant” in their study titles, and identified 27 studies. We introduced the essence of each study, based on their abstract.
Results: The 27 studies included 17 studies from five countries in Asia, five studies from the Americas, four studies from Europe, and one study from Australia. For examples, in Thailand, they organized community health team leaders consisting of hospital, local administration, and community representatives. In Canada, they had consecutive workshops among public health workers, physicians, epidemiologists and researchers. In France and the Netherlands, they repeatedly encouraged decision-makers to change public policies, sometimes by showing alternative options.
Conclusion: Options for SDH intervention included dialogue among people from different backgrounds and continued efforts to encourage decision-makers to become more aware of SDH. The importance of accumulated experience and evidence was also emphasized.

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Purpose: The aim of this article was to review the Tobacco Control studies reported at the 21st IUHPE World Conference, and to discuss current issues, future direction in global tobacco control and consider the Japan's challenges.
Methods: Eighty eight papers on tobacco control (oral papers, workshops and posters) were reviewed for their abstracts using DVD provided by the conference.
Results: There were 24 papers on tobacco control policy and strategies, 13 papers on tobacco control and youth, 18 papers on smoking cessation, 20 papers on smoke free environment and 13 papers on media campaign and counter marketing. Forty four papers were presented by Thailand, the host country of the conference. These results showed that the global tobacco control has been accelerated and developed as comprehensive national projects since FCTC entered into force in 2005.
Conclusion: Japan's challenges are to fully implement the FCTC like other Parties. In order to promote tobacco control in Japan, professionals of health promotion should increase public literacy in terms of tobacco issues and mull measures against tobacco industry's CSR. Additionally, professionals need to play an important role for advocacy in protecting the public from harms of tobacco.

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Objective: The purpose of this article was to review the reported studies at the 21st IUHPE World Conference which focused on children's well-being, community and life assets (Tripathi. S et al).
Methods: Studies on children's well-being, community and life assets were selectively reviewed from the symposiums and workshops, oral and poster session, and other sessions of this conference.
Results: The presentations and reports related to children's well-being were reported from many different aspects. We paid more attention to the life assets projects which used the knowledge-based evaluation index of 48 items and focused on five essential factors of the youth's positive power. Then, three proposals were suggested to improve the youth's life assets: 1) evaluate individual and social factors as the protective factors of the youth; 2) set up a plan to build the youth's life assets by using available community resources; 3) improve the community activities for the youth Furthermore, the importance of the monitoring role of the relevant national policies was also reported.
Conclusion: The children's well-being demands multi-sectoral action based on family, school and community. Thus, it is necessary to develop for the advisable environment on the point of the family, school and community.

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Objective/Methods: Now non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the most important healthy issues. The aim of this report was to review 1) the status of investment for NCDs in Thailand, 2) the trend of practice and research in prevention of NCDs, and 3) the research platform of NCDs in the 21th IUHPE world conference, and to utilize as reference data on preventing NCDs in Japan.
Results: 1) Thailand health promotion foundation invests about 100 million dollars by surcharge tax of tobacco & alcohol excise taxes to health promotion every year. There are over half of projects that related NCDs preventing, such as smoking and alcohol control, physical activities, health risk factor control, and community activity. 2) It is important to promote early intervention in health literacy at individual and organization, and to establish the appropriate measurement for health literacy. 3) The research platform of NCDs may be a bridge among multi-facilities, multi-sectorial partnership, policy maker, health workers, and researchers.
Conclusion: For a more effective and efficient health promotion program on overcoming NCDs, we should observe continuous investment for health, accumulation the evidence of social determination and health behavior theory, and important role of research platform of NCDs.

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Background: Qualitative methods attracts an increasing interest from many fields such as sociology, psychology, clinical psychology, education, cultural anthropology, health science, nursing science, medical anthropology, linguistics, history, media study, market research and so on. Health education is among the top. Reference books on qualitative methods have been published, including translation of major text books abroad. Yet not a few researchers who may be used to quantitative methods tend to hold uneasiness in applying qualitative approaches to their research design.
Contents: This article first introduces “Data first” approaches of Lyn Richards' “Handling Qualitative Data” (Sage.), together with mixed methods research (MMR) of qualitative and quantitative approaches briefly, then qualitative data analysis (QDA) software. It also list up a set of references, both textbooks and a set of recently published research papers in the field of health education using qualitative methods as an example, with explanatory comments on their research design, hoping this to be a good reference for your future publication.

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Background: The Japanese Society of Health Education and Promotion (JSHEP) conducted a seminar on qualitative research on January 16, 2014. This paper reports on the seminar outputs of group work and discussions with instructors.
Contents: In total, 101 participants attended the seminar. They were divided into 10 groups, each of which discussed the following question: “What do you want to know about qualitative research?” This initial question generated further questions and comments within the groups that were all recorded. After engaging in an intra-group discussion, each group addressed their collective questions to the instructors. We compiled and organized the results of the group work, which we present in this paper with a summary of the subsequent discussion held with instructors. We thematically arranged questions raised by participants into the following six categories: (1) an explanatory overview of qualitative research and mixed methods research, (2) research strategies, (3) data collection, (4) data analysis, (5) progression of analysis to obtain results, and (6) writing a paper. During the discussion with the instructors, a representative from each group raised questions. These included, for example, development of qualitative research methodologies, coding techniques and analysis, probability of acceptance of original papers, the quality of qualitative studies, and reaching a saturation point. It was evident from the group work that the participants raised a wide variety of questions.
Conclusions: By discussing specific and focused key questions relating to qualitative methodologies with instructors, participants could acquire beneficial inputs.

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