Objective: To clarify the association of a well-balanced diet with diet-related factors in childhood.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among students in a university in Hyogo prefecture in 2020. Among the 162 students, 161 answered the questionnaire (response rate: 99.4%). Data on 148 female students without missing data were divided into two groups based on their weekly consumption of a well-balanced diet (i.e., staple food, main, and side dishes) at least twice a day. Students’ characteristics, current eating behaviors, and lifestyles were compared between the two groups. Factor analysis was conducted for diet-related factors in childhood. Subsequently, using the factor score of each factor as independent variables and well-balanced diet as the dependent variable, logistic regression analyses were conducted after adjusting for students’ characteristics, current eating behaviors, and lifestyles.

Results: Respectively, 62 (41.9%) and 86 (58.1%) students were classified into the high and low frequency of well-balanced diet groups (HFWBD: 4≥ days per week, LFWBD: ≤3 days per week). Significant differences between the groups were observed in current resident status, late-night part-time job, frequency of breakfast, dinner, late-night meal, eating out, and prepared food. Five factors named “meal fit to season and event,” “helping to prepare meals,” “cost time for cooking,” “conversation about diet,” and “well-balanced diet” were extracted. A higher “conversation about diet” score was significantly associated with a higher odds ratio for HFWBD.

Conclusion: Association between conversation about diet in childhood and current well-balanced diet was indicated.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the correlation of family meals with health and food intake frequency among preschoolers in Japan

Methods: The cross-sectional designed study based on the secondary analysis was conducted using data from the National Nutrition Survey on Preschool Children in 2015 conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Of 2,623 participants with children aged 2–6 years, we analyzed 2,456 participants with valid answers. Based on the answers about whom they usually ate breakfast and dinner with, participants were categorized into two or three groups. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed using the family meal group as an independent variable and health and food intake frequency as dependent variables adjusted for demographic variables.

Results: Over half of the study sample comprised boys, the average age of children’s mothers was 35.4 years, and 56.4% of mothers were working. The three groups based on family meals were as follows: “eat both breakfast and dinner with all family members” (n=417, group A); “eat both breakfast and dinner with not all members but adults” (n=1,426, group B)”; and “eat with only children or alone” (n=613, group C). Children in groups A and B, who ate both meals with adults, were less likely to have tooth decay, more likely to eat fish, eggs, soybean products, fruits, dairy every day, and less likely to drink sweetened drinks every day.

Conclusion: Eating meals with not all family members but with adults correlated with no tooth decay and better food intake among preschool children.

Objective: In this study, a promotion program was examined to improve the walking habits of working individuals. Thus, a trial program was implemented at a private company to evaluate the outputs and outcomes. Its potential to serve as content for workplace health promotion (WHP) was investigated.

Methods: The intervention was performed at Company A, a car transportation company (approximately 230 employees) for a period of 3 months from April through July 2018. The study design was an open-label, single-arm, before-and-after study. In the study, the following measurements were performed twice, once before and once after the intervention: physical examination, body composition, blood pressure, visceral fat area, stand-up test, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) survey, and gait test. During the intervention, daily walking habits, such as number of steps and speed, were monitored by having the test participants wear a tri-axial accelerometer. The before and after measurement results and the monitoring data from 173 participants were used for analysis.

Results: The study showed that the effective usage rate of the accelerometer was 93.5%, and the overall program’s persistency rate was 81.2%. Walking habits and the values of metabolic syndrome-related indicators improved significantly. No significant differences in locomotive syndrome and HRQOL were observed between the before- and after-intervention periods. In the group with an average of at least 8,000 steps, the gait speed and step length during the program significantly improved, and the abdominal circumference and the visceral fat area after the intervention were within the normal ranges for obesity and metabolic syndrome diagnostic criteria.

Conclusion: The program was implemented with a persistency rate of over 80%, suggesting that the values of health-related indicators can be improved by increasing the quality in addition to the quantity of walking. The program tested in this study has the potential to serve as content for WHP programs.

Objective: To investigate willingness to participate in a health education-related symposium by using nudges in the flyer targeted at university students.

Methods: 917 university students were randomly assigned to three groups, and different flyers of a health education-related symposium were sent by e-mail to investigate their willingness to participate. The control group was given detailed information based on a conventional flyer, the “Easy nudge group” was given 73% fewer words than the control group, and the “EAST nudge group” was designed a four-frame cartoon and a portrait of the organizer in accordance with the EAST nudge framework.

Results: The respondents were 70, 67 and 71 students in the control group, “Easy nudge group,” and “EAST nudge group,” respectively. The number of respondents who answered “want to participate but the schedule does not match” and “will participate” was 30.0%, 40.3%, and 47.9% respectively, which was significantly higher in the “EAST nudge group” than in the control group. In terms of impressions of the flyer, the control group was significantly lower than the other two groups in “easy to read” and “immediately want to read,” while the control group was significantly higher than the simplified nudge group in “felt uncomfortable.

Conclusion: Information overload in existing flyers is a disincentive to participation, and designing easy nudges, as removal of inhibiting factors, and timely nudges, as a facilitator, can improve willingness. The study has limitations, such as the fact that the actual number of participants was not used as an outcome, and further validation is required.

Objective: The university health service and university cooperative worked together to develop and promote an energy and salt intake reference menu to provide health guidance for university students and faculty members.

Methods: School physicians, nurses, and dietitians collaborated to create a reference menu based on the concept of “less than 500 kcal, four or more vegetables, and less than 3 g of salt.” The university cooperative was in charge of the production and sales. To promote the concept, the university health service created stickers, logos, and posters. To investigate the recognition level and possible future issues within the university, the health service also conducted a questionnaire after delivering four mini-lectures.

Results: From October 2015 to March 2020, 36 menus, including renewals, were developed, and a cumulative total of 75,405 meals were sold, with the ratio of menus to the number of lunchboxes sold by the cooperative increasing each year. In the last 2 years (FY 2018 and FY 2019), 12 menus were updated. A total of 33 people attended the mini-lectures, and 24 (6 men and 18 women) responded to the questionnaire, with 66.7% (18 persons) responding that they “well understood” the “importance of the concept.”

Conclusion: The developed reference menu has begun to gain recognition within the university, and understanding has deepened each year. We expect further spread of the menu by approaching the younger generation and constructing a sustainable system for production and sales.