Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess vegetable consumption among Japanese adults and to examine its association with eating behaviors, by household income.
Methods: Data were analyzed for 3,269 Japanese participants (1,615 men, 1,618 women) aged 30-59 years, who responded to an internet-based cross-sectional survey in January 2014. Collected date were as follows: self-reported measures of eating behavior, health behaviors, socioeconomic status and demographic variables. The association between eating vegetables with eating behaviors was determined using binomial logistic regression analysis, with eating vegetables as the dependent variable and eating behaviors as independent variables. The analyses were stratified by household income into three categories. Model 1 was not adjusted. Model 2 was adjusted for sex, age classification, marital status, residence status and employment status. Model 3 was adjusted for sex, age classification, marital status, residence status, employment status and education.
Results: Vegetable consumption was more desirable in model 3 than in other models, and was significantly associated with desirable care for one's diet for health reasons (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.87, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 1.97-4.19), using the information on nutrition labels (AOR: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.69-3.26), and conversations over meals with family or friends (AOR: 4.25, 95% CI: 3.04-5.95) in the lowest household income category.
Conclusion: For all levels of household income, encouraging self-management and meal information exchange and use are more likely to promote desirable vegetable consumption.

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Objective: We conducted this study to examine the factors related to the choice of confectioneries among adolescent girls and young adult women.
Methods: Four focus group interviews were conducted (twenty-three students in total), consisting of six junior high-school students, six high-school students, five university students, and six graduate students in February and April, 2014. The interviews were semi-structured, based on a script, and lasted 90 minutes. The participants discussed the reasons for selecting the confectioneries. In addition, they were administered a questionnaire about the purchase of the confectioneries, and demographics were gathered. Afterwards, the researchers transcribed the interviews, coded, and categorized them for data analysis.
Results: The factors related to the choice of confectioneries were categorized into sixty-four “subcategories” and nineteen [categories]. The categories included the internal and external factors. The internal factors included fifteen categories, such as [tastes] and [satisfactions]. The external factors included four categories, such as [environment] and [feature], and included [reputations] in only high-school students. The characteristic factors were “illustrations” on the packages in junior high-school students, “experience of diet” in university students, and “importance of preferences” in graduate students.
Conclusion: The choice of confectioneries was related to various factors. The results suggested that there were common factors (tastes and price) and characteristic factors (reputations) among adolescent girls and young adult women.

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Objective: To examine the level of perceived body weight gain which is considered risky for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and to investigate its determinants for understanding the participants who have high consciousness on weight gain.
Methods: We used a cross-sectional design. Adults living in Tokyo (400 males, 400 females) completed an online self-reported questionnaire in May 2014. We then recorded participant demographics, the level of perceived body weight gain in a year which was considered risky for NCDs. We also checked their body weight control behaviors. After that, we divided them into 3 groups: low; 0 kg-4.9 kg, middle; 5.0 kg-5.4 kg, and high; over 5.5 kg based on their perceived risky body weight gain. For data analysis, we used a chi-square test, logistic-regression, and multivariate analysis.
Results: Out of 800 participants, 291 responded that a body weight gain of ≥5 kg in 1 year would raise NCD morbidity. The low, middle, and high groups comprised 231 (28.9%), 295 (36.9%), and 274 (34.3%), respectively. Furthermore, 91 (78.4%) men in the “low” group had a university or a postgraduate degree, which was higher than that in the other two groups (p<0.002). In the “low” group, 45 (39.1%) and 61(53.0%) women were in their 50s and were married; these proportions were higher than those in the other two groups.
Conclusion: About 40% of adult men and women perceived that a body weight gain of ≥5 kg in 1 year would raise NCD morbidity. Among participants in the “low” group, the educational level was high in men, and age and rate of being married were high in women.

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Background: The United Nations in 2011 hosted a High Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York. This was in response to evidence that NCDs were the biggest cause of death worldwide. Member states agreed to a range of measures, however, achieving the global commitments made to NCDS will be a major undertaking and will require sustained advocacy. Professional societies, including the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) and the Japanese Society of Health Education and Promotion (JSHEP), have prioritized advocacy and made a commitment to workforce training in advocacy.
Contents: Since 2012 the IUHPE has conducted NCD Advocacy Workshops in Colombia, Thailand, New Zealand, Estonia, France and Taiwan. Most recently, in February 2016, the JSHEP hosted a one-day workshop in Tokyo. The workshop had the twin goals of teaching advocacy content and method and also providing and experiential opportunity for participants to develop an advocacy strategy for a chosen health issue. A draft action plan for each group was an important workshop output.
Conclusions: Participants in the Japan workshop had exposure to the definitions, competencies models for effective advocacy. This is a modest start in a challenging national undertaking for the JSHEP. Further training is required as well as perhaps a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach to take the training to more Japanese health promotion professionals. Health promotion in Japan will benefit through participants' of new skills in their own work, but also form participants imparting those skills to their professional colleagues.

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Background: This article described the contents of the seminar, “developing skills for mobilizing advocacy” and proposed future challenges based on discussions during the seminar.
Contents: The seminar consisted of an instructor-led presentation on advocacy, a group work (to determine advocacy issues and formulate advocacy strategies), and participants' presentations about advocacy strategies. The instructor-led presentation was given by using the advocacy action model in a worksheet, which covered the primary model for advocacy skills and related imperatives. After making seven groups (2 unhealthy diet, 1 harmful use of alcohol, 3 physical inactivity, 1 tobacco use), group discussions were conducted using the model. The participants determined advocacy issues, formulated advocacy strategies following the actions on the worksheet, and each group presented its strategies.
Conclusion: Participants understood the advocacy model and made seven presentations about four health promotion issues; unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity, and tobacco use. Discussion is more needed on how the Japanese Society of Health Education and Promotion -Youth Division will work on the advocacy. The young researchers should know more about what they can do and what they need to do to strengthen their advocacy skills.

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