Object : This study is assuming “sociality of diet” as the action of people who have connection to diet, and consider the relationship between the activity of dietary habit modification promoters (It will be DM from now on), dietary life, and social capital. Methods : It was a questionnaire held from September toNovember, 2016. And 128 people out of 151 snswered the questions (84.8% of response rate). The analyzation was the relation and the difference of age using the Chi-square test and relationship of “sociality of diet” with them by using logistic regression analysis. Result : There were higher 80% of MD were positive of social capital factor’s. An activity situation related “Cooking for giving to people” (OR : 2.639 (95%CL : 1.105-6.3)), “Handing down cooking and taste of tradition” (OR : 2.959 (95%CL : 1.226-7.142)), “Information exchange of health or nutrition” (OR : 3.424 (95%CL : 1.283-9.142)), and “information exchange of cooking or seasoning” (OR : 3.317 (95%CL : 1.293-8.508)). Conclusion : MD was indicated that even they are at the age of over 75, they still have something to live for, and contributing for building up of social capital and health of local areas, as expanding the network by relating with people who are in charge of the social nature of food.

Chopsticks are popular dining utensils in many Asian countries. Children start using them when they are as young as three years of age. It is imperative for children to hold chopsticks correctly. Our previous study suggested that a mother’s role is very important in her children’s eating preferences. In this study, the relationship between the ways mothers and their children hold chopsticks was investigated. A total of 128 mothers of 51 boys and 77 girls participated in this cross-sectional study. The mothers were asked questions relating to their use and their children’s use of chopsticks. Fisher’s exact tests were applied. Results revealed that 70.8% of mothers and 34.0% of children held chopsticks correctly. A significant relationship between mothers and children who held chopsticks correctly was found (p<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant relationship between mothers who thought it important to use chopsticks correctly and those who used them correctly (p<0.001). However, there was not a significant relationship between mothers who thought it important for children to use chopsticks correctly and children who held chopsticks correctly. Results suggested that mothers who used chopsticks correctly affected their children’s correct use of chopsticks.

To improve dietary education programs to promote vegetable consumption, we examined the relationship between weight perception, and food and vegetable intake among participants in a community dietary education event. The participants were divided into three groups based on their perceived weight status: normal weight (37.3%), slightly overweight or overweight (43.1%), and slightly underweight or underweight (19.6%).

The percentages of individuals who rated their food intake as “low” (27.6, 3.5, and 3.0% in the under, normal, and overweight groups, respectively) and “high” (13.8, 14.0, and 47.0%, respectively) were significantly different among the three groups, while no such difference was observed in terms of the percentage of individuals who considered their usual vegetable intake to be “low” (44.8, 40.4, and 42.4%, respectively) or “high” (17.2, 10.5, and 15.2%, respectively).

　When the participants reporting low-level vegetable consumption were asked to indicate all applicable reasons for it, the largest proportion of respondents from the normal and overweight groups indicated “limited choices of vegetable dishes”, followed by “frequent eating out”, whereas those from the underweight group frequently reported “frequent eating out” and “preparation of vegetable dishes being bothersome and time-consuming”.

The present finding that self-rated food intake, but not vegetable intake, significantly differed with perceived weight status indicates that consuming an adequate amount of vegetables is difficult for the majority of participants, regardless of weight perception. The survey results, including the reasons for the low vegetable intake and the types of vegetables usually consumed by these participants, can be used as a basis for providing them with appropriate dietary advice in the future to increase their vegetable consumption.

Nutrition is an essential element of health in older adults and affects the aging process. Using a dataset from the 2003-2011 National Health and Nutritional Survey Japan, we analyzed dietary intake and the prevalence of undernutrition among Japanese elderly adults. To determine the prevalence of undernourished elderly, undernutrition was defined as a body mass index (BMI) less than 20 or a serum albumin level less than 4.0. Dietary intake was assessed with a 1-d semi-weighed dietary record. In a pooled analysis of data from 2003-2011, we calculated changes in the prevalence of undernourished elderly during that 9-year period and estimated linear changes in dietary intake according to age. Prevalence was 15.4% to 18.0% (average 16.8%) for BMI and 8.0% to 16.2% (average 11.5%) for albumin and remained relatively constant during the 9-year period. The prevalence of undernutrition was highest among adults aged 80 years or older. Furthermore, energy intake and intakes of several nutrients and food groups decreased with age in men and women. Our findings suggest that undernutrition in older adults is associated with inadequate intakes of several foods and nutrients. An effective intervention strategy to prevent undernutrition among elderly Japanese is thus urgently needed.

This study was conducted to examine the effect of food education given to female university students in their 20s as a means of having them learn self-control at meal times by using a lunch sheet reminding them of “One soup and three side dishes” and Full-sized Model.

Three results were obtained:

Firstly, through the food frequency method, their post-education energy intake increased to 1821 kcal from their pre-education level of 1690 kcal (p=0.020). A significant increase in their post-education intake of the following nutrients was observed : lipid (p=0.031), carbohydrate (p=0.021) and vitaminB2 (p=0.018).

Secondly, in answer to one of our survey’s self-evaluation questions “Do you think what you eat is good?” 50.0% of the respondents said “Good” after this education, compared with only 16.7% who said so before the education (p=0.031).

Thirdly, in answer to a survey question on evaluating the lunch sheets, “Did you really use the lunch sheet?” about 40% of the respondents said “Not at all”.

In respect to the results, it is important to develop textbooks applicable to our daily eating habits, continue contriving effective dietary education programs and design a more usable lunch sheet for “one soup and three side dishes”.