To improve chewing ability and chewing behavior among preschool children, we conducted a 5-month education program with children aged 5 to 6 years and their guardians. Using a quasi-experimental design with assessments before and after intervention, the effectiveness of the program was evaluated by comparing the intervention and control groups. The program consisted of three lessons with practical exercises, chewing training six times using a chewing gum that changed color, and counting the number of chews during lunch with a chewing counter. Activities for guardians consisted of one lesson and five letters. Although the maximum bite force increased in both the intervention and control groups according to the children’s natural development, masticatory performance as assessed by the color-changing gum improved significantly in the intervention group (before : 16.8±7.4, after : 20.1±6.8) but not in the control group (p<0.05). Chewing behavior as evaluated by the number of chews per minute during lunch also improved significantly (before : 28.1±10.9, after : 37.6±13.2 ; p<0.01). The results of questionnaires completed by guardians before and after intervention showed an improvement not only in the chewing behavior of children, but also in guardian awareness regarding use of ingredients and preparation of meals that assist in the development of children’s chewing ability.

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between vegetable cultivation and consumption among the participants of food and nutrition classes in Gunma prefecture.
The survey data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire between September 2013 and March 2014. The respondents were participants who attended food and nutrition classes in Gunma prefecture and had consented to participate in this study. The survey consisted of a total of nine questions regarding participant age ; gender ; fondness for vegetables ; perceived accessibility to vegetables, and vegetable dishes at home and grocery stores; perceived availability to vegetables ; whether they themselves cultivated the vegetables or not ; and vegetable consumption. We analyzed the data with χ² tests and logistic regression models.
From the 126 questionnaires collected, 14 were irrelevant and 112 were usable for analysis. The χ² test showed a significant relationship between vegetable cultivation and consumption (χ²＝6.892, p＝0.009), and the result of the logistic regression model, after adjusting for other items, also showed a significant relationship of vegetable cultivation and consumption (AOR＝2.97, p＝0.033, 95%CI＝1.09-8.07).
These results suggest that there is a relationship between vegetable cultivation and consumption; however, further investigations are needed.

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Although seafood’s benefits for maintaining health are well accepted, seafood consumption has been declining year after year. It is difficult, however, to easily incorporate fish into daily eating when the concept and techniques of cooking fish have become less known and appreciated among con-sumers in recent years. It is, therefore, difficult for consumers to select the products that they want according to product category. In this study, we focused on marketing according to cooking time, examining whether fish eating can be promoted through techniques that emphasize this aspect of home lifestyle. Results revealed that sales were increased by marketing fish to emphasize, its cooking time. This finding suggests that retailers can adopt this marketing approach to promote fish eating.

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