Diet plays an important role in the maintenance of athlete condition and performance. However, collegiate athletes rarely receive adequate dietary education in Japan. Here, we assessed associations between food intake and intake frequency for 10 food groups in order to confirm that simple questions relating to intake frequency can provide diverse information about food intake in collegiate athletes.

A total of 123 collegiate athletes (67 males) completed a food frequency questionnaire and a non-consecutive 3-day, 24-hour dietary recall relating to the following food groups : meat, fish/shellfish, eggs, milk and dairy products, soy and soy products, seaweed, potatoes, green and yellow vegetables, other vegetables, and fruits. Frequencies were as follows : almost never, one or twice a week, every other day, and every day. The Jonckheere-Terpstra test, Goodman and Kruskal’s gamma, and weighted matching coefficient kappa were used to assess associations. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare food intake by frequency. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Energy-adjusted intakes were positively associated with frequencies for each food group, with the exception of potatoes (median gamma, 0.27 ; median kappa, 0.79). Comparing intakes of every day or not, significant differences were observed for fish/shellfish, eggs, milk and dairy products, soy and soy products, and other vegetables.

Our findings suggest that simple questions relating to intake frequency can provide diverse information about food intake in collegiate athletes.

Snacks play an important role in supplementing the diet of children, but there is a lack of research examining both quantity and quality of snacks, from the perspective of effects on the evening meal, using dietary record methods. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the quantity and quality of snacks consumed after school, outdoor play, and consumption of vegetables at the evening meal.

A cross-sectional survey consisting of a questionnaire on lifestyle habits and a 1-day dietary record were conducted on 269 pairs of 6- to 9-year-old children attending three public elementary schools and their parents. In this study, “snacks” were defined as food consumed between lunch and the evening meal, “non-essential foods” were defined as confectionaries or non-essential drinks containing sugar, and “supplementary foods” were defined as other food items that could form part of a meal. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between consumption of vegetables at the evening meal, quantity and quality of snacks (supplementary foods/non-essential foods), and outdoor play.

Children’s evening meal vegetable consumption became significantly lower in relation to energy consumption from non-essential foods (standardized partial regression coefficient (β)＝－0.132, P＝0.036), and significantly higher in relation to frequency of outdoor play (β＝0.223, P＝0.001). In contrast, there was no significant correlation between energy consumption from supplementary foods and evening meal vegetable consumption.

This study suggests that increased frequency of outdoor play and reduced amount of energy from non-essential snacks after school is linked to increased vegetable consumption at the evening meal, showing the importance of considering the quantity and quality of snacks for children.

We conducted an examination of quality control for five school lunch meals offered in June and November. The differences in weight and nutrient content between the time of menu planning and the time the meals were served were measured as yield and nutrient retention factors, respectively. The yield factor was derived from the ratio of the weight of the total ingredients at the time of menu planning to the weight of the school lunch meal served. The yield factors for the five school lunch meals ranged between 87% and 94%, revealing a loss during the preparation process. Furthermore, seasonal ingredients were found to affect the yield factor of dishes using such ingredients. The nutrient retention factor was obtained by measuring the ratio of the nutrient content value of total ingredients at the time of menu planning to the value of the content analysis of school lunch at the time of serving. In all five school lunch meals, a significant decline in the nutrient retention factors was observed for energy content, calcium, magnesium and zinc. Furthermore, significant increases in vitamin A and dietary fiber were observed. However, no differences were observed for protein, fat, carbohydrates, sodium, iron, vitamin B₁, vitamin B₂, and vitamin C. as the intake amounted to 95% of the weight of the food served and the nutrient intake exceeded 95% for most nutrients except vitamins A and C, the school meals were found to be of high quality,. The quality evaluation of school lunch based upon the yield and nutrient retention factors revealed the need for identifying and investigating the causes of loss or gain during the preparation process to achieve quality improvements.

Due to the aging population in Japan, the ratio of elderly women requiring care for musculoskeletal disorders is growing rapidly. Therefore, it is important for women to make efforts to maintain healthy bone, muscle, joint, and nerve function to prevent osteoporosis and locomotive syndrome. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey on 327 middle-aged or older women (100 in their forties, 107 in their fifties, and 120 in their sixties) to investigate their knowledge and recognition of locomotive syndrome, their past and present exercise habits, and their present dietary habits and levels of daily activity. Based on their responses, the recognition of locomotive syndrome was lowest, at 33.0%, among those in their forties, and tended to increase with age, peaking at 46.6% among those in their sixties ; however, the knowledge of locomotive syndrome was low in all age groups. In addition, 71.9%, 69.8%, and 57.5% of the respondents in their forties, fifties, and sixties, respectively, re-ported having regular exercise habits during their school days, while 26.8%, 30.5%, and 46.2%, respectively, reported presently having regular exercise habits. Regarding level of daily activity, those in their forties and fifties reported having a low number of daily steps, suggesting that they were somewhat unfit. Half of all respondents reported that they consumed dairy products daily, while the other half consumed them less frequently. Furthermore, the frequency of natto (fermented soybeans) and green leafy vegetable intake was especially low among those in their forties. These results indicate that in order to promote not only the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, but also the maintenance of healthy bone, muscle, joint, and nerve function for the prevention of osteoporosis and locomotive syndrome, middle-aged women in their forties and older need to increase their daily consumption of dairy and soy products and green leafy vegetables, as well as their level of physical activity. These changes can be expected to bring about improvements in healthy life expectancy.