The number of Japanese workers in foreign countries including senior overseas volunteers (SV) and the number of the countries where they stay have been increasing every year. However, there are few reports on the diet of the workers in foreign countries, and thus their food intake conditions remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to survey the food intake conditions of SV in the developing countries before their dispatch and during their stay. As a result, every nutrient intake during their stay was less than that before the dispatch. In particular the adequacy of minerals and vitamins were very low : the sufficiency rate for Fe, Ca, vitamin E, vitamin B_1, vitaminB_6, vitamin C were 60%, 71%, 79%, 68%, 73%, 86%, respectively. Also, in the food group-classified survey the intake of 37 food groups, which account for 74% in the 50 food groups, decreased during the stay. The intake of seafoods, and the intake of green stuffs were 58% less and 34% less, respectively. It is important that before the dispatch the workers should have a chance to learn the nutritions and foods in a foreign country, including the way of cooking.
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