Objective: To investigate the correlation between late night meals and obesity.
Method: Using PubMed and CINAHL, a database search was conducted for a systematic review on articles published between 2005 and 2015. For the search formula, the following keywords were used: meals, night/time, eating behavior, and obesity/metabolic syndrome (MetS). Eleven articles were selected through the primary screening of titles and abstracts and the secondary screening of careful article perusal.
Results: Of eleven articles, two were longitudinal studies, seven were cross-sectional studies, and two were intervention studies. For subjects, 10 articles limited their subjects to adults, while one article included both adults and children. Five studies found higher ratios of obesity (BMI above 30kg/m²), greater BMI values, or increases in body weight among those who had late night meals (including snacks). Other five articles found no such correlations between both of them. The remaining one article found that those who had late night meals had a lower risk of MetS compared to those who did not.
Conclusion: Between late night meals and obesity, consistent results were not detected in this systematic review. This may be due to the presence or absence of energy intake adjustment as a confounding factor.

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Objective: To evaluate the process and outcomes of a “Bullying-Prevention Project” implemented by high school students in Tokyo.
Methods: In this study, a total of 723 students from one high school participated in a bullying-prevention project. To evaluate its process, the students reviewed the following: the analyses of bullying-related factors performed by the project team, process of the project planning, and relevant activities. Concerning outcome assessment, bullying-related roles/actions and the students' awareness of bullying were compared before the program initiation and one year after the initiation, and their impressions were also written down after the project was analyzed.
Results: The process evaluation suggested that the Precede-Proceed Model is useful to plan the bullying-prevention project considering the circumstances of target schools, and the above-mentioned activities were viewed positively. However, peer counseling was not utilized frequently. For the outcome evaluation, the following scores were improved one year after the program: the scores of bullying-related roles/actions for bullied individuals, bullies, bystanders, and those seeking consultation. Regarding the awareness of bullying, smaller number of students suggested that bullying should be tackled by teachers alone, and more students suggested that more attention should be paid to bullying to prevent and resolve it.
Conclusion: The majority of students positively viewed bullying-prevention projects implemented by the students. The project contributed to change the bullying-related roles/actions and students' awareness of bullying one year after its implementation.

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Objective: The Japanese food guide spinning top is used widely in nutrition education, but nutrition education programs have been rarely conducted by combining both Japanese food guide spinning top and behavioral science. This paper reports a nutrition education program based on such combination.
Project contents: The nutrition education program aimed to improve eating habits and it was implemented to 24 members of an all-male judo team members at a university from July to October, 2015. In a nutrition class, the Japanese food guide spinning top was used as an educational tool. Then motivational interviewing, which is one of the behavioral sciences, was done to increase readiness for improving eating habits and bring about behavior changes. The participants checked the achievements of targets set by each team member in the second nutrition class through self-monitoring. Dietary assessments were conducted before and after the program, and process evaluations were assessed for 19 members (83%) who participated in the entire program.
Project assessment: After the program implementation, the members improved their readiness for improving eating habits, and their knowledge was also improved. Furthermore those who achieved the following actions were increased: (1) to eat side dishes more than twice a day, and (2) to have milk and dairy products or fruits at least once a day.
Lessons for the future: Although the program is successful, individual dietary counselling approach is necessary to improve it. Dietary assessments and assessment of readiness for more than 2 days in a row are also necessary.

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Objectives: This article is a special report of the chair's presentation held at the 25th annual conference of the Japanese Society of Health Education and Promotion in Okinawa, June 11th to 12th 2016. An outline of the presentation is as follows.
Contents: First, the current situation and trends of health status in Okinawa were overviewed briefly, and slowing in the extension of the life expectancy and higher mortality in working-age population were shown. As for the background, it was suggested that unhealthy life style directly influenced on ill health and social determinants of health in Okinawa was extremely behind. Second, from the point of view of the social determinants of health, the author focused on relationships between Okinawa's unique social context as represented by “Yuimāru” and health outcomes among population and discussed that social connectedness in Okinawa might buffer against health inequities. In regard to this point, the author introduced findings from studies on social connectedness and health outcomes among older and young people in Okinawa.
Conclusion: It was stressed that health education and promotion, based on improvement of social environment by using social ties among people, is very important.

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Background: In Okinawa, health promoting programs have been conducted to extend healthy life expectancy and reduce health disparities in collaboration with universities, municipality offices, board of education and communities. This article described the background of the program, current situations and future directions of health and longevity in Okinawa.
Contents: Okinawa faces the challenges of increasing incidence rate of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially among the middle-aged population. To extend healthy life expectancy, health promoting environment must be improved as it can help prevent NCDs. To improve such environment, Okinawa has strengthened dietary education in schools and initiated health-promoting programs in communities using available resources (e.g. social capital). Specifically, Department of Public Health and Medical Care, Okinawa Prefecture and Okinawa Prefectural Education Bureau have performed a cross-cutting project; providing students with a supplementary textbook to inspire them for their healthier lifestyle. “Yui Health Project” by the University of the Ryukyus has also conducted a health-promoting intervention program such as creating supportive environment for health promoting behaviors by conducting dietary education and mobilizing community resources such as social capital and networks.
Conclusion: Health promoting programs based on collaboration with schools and communities may contribute to reduce the incidence of and mortality from NCDs among Okinawan people as they can improve health-related literacy. These programs also can be a foothold to extend healthy longevity and diseases in younger ages.

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