In prefectural surveys on health and nutrition, the daily salt intake among residents aged 20 or older was 9.3 g in Osaka (FY2015-2017) and 9.7 g in Tokyo (FY2017), revealing a lower value in the former. As there is an increasing need for measures to enhance awareness of salt reduction, a status survey on miso soup consumption was conducted to identify factors associated with the lower salt intake in Osaka compared with Tokyo.

The sodium concentration was 0.825±0.351% in Osaka and 0.893±0.354% in Tokyo; the concentration was within the recommended range in both cases, but the value was higher in Tokyo. Making “dashi” with natural ingredients, such as dried bonito flakes and kombu kelp, and utilizing it for cooking help promote salt reduction. However, in the case of miso soup, salt reduction may depend on the salt intake from miso itself and “dashi” made with other ingredients. Furthermore, in order to reduce the salt content of miso soup with various ingredients, it may be necessary to serve it in regular-sized bowls, rather than large ones.

On examining nursery schools in 3 prefectures of the Tohoku area 7 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, approximately 80% of them adopted measures to control radioactive materials contained in food ingredients used for school lunch services. The rates of creating general plans with insights into food education, providing food education while specifying its purposes and contents in teaching plans, and creating food education plans based on school children’s current status were approximately 90%, whereas the rate of planning/providing food education using records/assessment sheets created for this purpose was approximately 70%. The presence of full-time registered dieticians or nutritionists was shown to influence awareness of food education, nursery schools’ status of planning, providing, and assessing food education, and their food-related approaches. The results clarified the statuses of controlling radioactive materials contained in food ingredients used for school lunch services and planning, providing, and assessing food education at nursery schools in 3 prefectures of the Tohoku area, indicating the necessity of effectively assigning registered dieticians and nutritionists to nursery schools and promoting food education, where all processes from planning to assessment are systematically performed utilizing these professionals.

The goal of this study was to examine the use of the population approach using posters among Japanese university students in order to clarify the effectiveness of such posters to provide students with important nutritional information.

Three hundred fifty-four university students who attended the Department of Food and Nutrition (male, n＝40 ; female, n＝314 ; age, 18-22 years) participated in this survey. We displayed the flat poster between May and July and the three-dimensional poster between September and December 2018. The two posters were displayed in a university corridor frequently used by students. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in May, July, September and December. In the questionnaire, subjects were interviewed regarding on their degree of using reference nutrition fact labels when purchasing foods, the terms used to indicate the energy and nutrient contents that are always displayed on nutrition fact labels, their degree of confirmation regarding the posters and the degree of understanding regarding the contents of those the posters.

Our results showed that 19.1% of the subjects checked the flat poster, while 53.4% of the subjects checked the three-dimensional poster. Those who checked the posters were able to understand the contents. They were also able to look back on their own drinking behavior. However, our findings suggested that the students did not gain any specific knowledge of nutrition fact labels based on the influence of the posters. We therefore want to improve the ability for students to obtain important nutritional information by repeatedly displaying educational posters at universities.

The present study investigated the effectiveness of a nutrition education workshop focusing on sugar intake conducted for Malay university students. The workshop aimed to enable appropriate beverage selection in order to help prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

A nutrition education workshop was conducted on 85 Malay students at one university in each of Selangor and Kelantan states who responded to a pre-workshop survey. Using a before-after design, a pre-and post-workshop comparison was conducted regarding the 61 female students who submitted the post-workshop survey.

In the pre-workshop survey, high scores were obtained for items on knowledge and attitude regarding ideal dietary habits, exercise, and health. However, scores were low for items on knowledge related to sugar intake. Frequency of intake of sugarless beverages during break times was low.

Pre- and post-workshop comparison revealed a significant post-workshop increase in the proportion of students who self-assessed as having knowledge regarding sugar intake. The proportion of students who self-assessed as considering sugar intake in their attitude and behaviors also significantly increased. A significant pre- and post-workshop difference in frequency of intake was observed regarding syrup-sweetened juices and milo drink.

The post-workshop survey demonstrated an improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding sugar intake, suggesting that workshops focusing on sugar intake are a meaningful form of nutrition education for preventing NCDs.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between breakfast eating habits, food environment and health-related quality of life (QOL) among elementary school children. A self-report questionnaire about breakfast eating habits was conducted with 182 fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students in Fukuoka from October to November 2017. We investigated the frequency of breakfast, family meals for breakfast, number of breakfast dishes, and types of dishes (grain dishes, main fish and meat dishes, vegetable dishes, milk, and fruits) for children’s breakfast. The Japanese version of the Kid-KINDL^® questionnaire was used to estimate the QOL among elementary school children. A significant positive relationship was verified between the frequency of breakfast and the QOL scores (ρ=0.193, p=0.015). There was also a significant positive relationship between the QOL scores and number of dishes (ρ=0.219, p=0.006), milk intake (p=0.017), and fruit intake (p=0.014). In conclusion, a desirable eating habits and food environment for children’s breakfast may be associated with good QOL among children.