This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a specific health guidance for workers on the prevalence and improvement rates of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the variation of medical assessment data in a nine-year longitudinal study. We recruited 1,693 Japanese workers, aged 39-55 years, who were required to receive a six-month specific health guidance in 2008. They were divided into the complete and incomplete groups according to the guidance’s completion status. Each group was further divided according to the presence of MetS. We determined the prevalence and improvement rates of MetS through nine-year follow-up surveys (between 2009 and 2017). Furthermore, we compared the variation of the medical assessment data in 2017 from the baseline data of the two groups. The improvement rates of MetS were significantly higher in the complete group (HRs: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.10-1.68), after adjusting for sex, age, medical assessment data, smoking, and the stage of lifestyle change. The prevalence rates of MetS were significantly lower in the complete group (HRs: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.56-0.80). At the nine-year follow-up, the body weight, waist circumference, triglyceride levels, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) improved in the complete group. Our findings demonstrated that completing specific health guidance was effective in the long term.

Dietary and health education in schools is essential for child development. The present study’s primary purpose was to create a system that comprehensively supports children in collaboration with schools, communities, parents, and university researchers and to develop effective programs for dietary education and physical fitness improvement. The second purpose was to examine the effects of the program after the implementation of the one-year intervention using objective quantitative indicators. The subjects were 45 elementary school students (22 boys and 23 girls). Before the intervention, we conducted surveys and measurements to extract the subjects’ issues and developed a program centered on miso soup and fun physical activity. After the intervention, similar indicators were measured, and changes were considered. The anthropometry measurements (morphology and body composition, bone strength, and anemia index), cognitive function, dietary survey, physical activity survey, and 20m shuttle run were conducted. As a result, the indicators of dietary status, physical fitness, and cognitive function were found to be interrelated, suggesting that the intervention program collaborated with dietary education and physical fitness improvement implemented by the comprehensive support system may enhance the children’s health.

The current study examined factors that promoted a more regular menstrual cycle among 49 female undergraduates, with a focus on the number of years since menarche, diet, and lifestyle. When 21 undergraduates with less than 8 years since menarche were examined, there were no clear differences between those with a regular menstrual cycle and those with an irregular menstrual cycle in terms of dietary intake or lifestyle habits. When, in contrast, 28 undergraduates with more than 8 years since menarche were examined, those with a regular menstrual cycle had a significantly higher intake of manganese, α-carotene, β-carotene, β-carotene equivalent, folic acid in nutrients and green and yellow vegetables in food group. Those with a regular menstrual cycle had a significantly more sleep than those with an irregular menstrual cycle, too.

This suggests that it is necessary to consider measures for stabilization of the menstrual cycle after considering whether the age of the first passage has passed 8 years.

This study was conducted to identify actual practices and changes over time in eating habits and food attitudes of university students. Data from university students attending University A in Kyushu were collected for three years between 2017 and 2019, and the trends in eating behaviors and food attitudes by sex and by residential status were analyzed. In total, 115 subjects (25 males, 90 females) who completed the “Dietary Lifestyle Survey” for three consecutive years were included in the study. To examine the changes over time in eating behavior and food attitudes, Cochran’s Q test was performed. Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test was used for the year-to-year comparison. The chi-squared test was used for comparison of sex and residential status.

According to the results of the survey, a significant decrease over the three-year period was observed in the numbers of those who ate breakfast, a significant increase in the numbers of those who were confident in their cooking, a significant decrease was observed in the number of female students who ate breakfast, and a significant decrease in the number of single-dwellers who ate breakfast and checked food labels.

In this study, we reviewed articles on the influence of food production experiences on diet and health among middle- and high-income countries. A meta-review of review articles published from January 2000 to September 2018 was conducted according to the PRISMA statement to obtain an overview of the topic, and a review plan in PROSPERO was registered. For data collection, the study utilized the PubMed and Web of Science databases. The PICO was set as P: people living in middle- and high-income counties, I: having food production experience, C: not having food production experience, and O: dietary knowledge, dietary awareness, food preference, dietary behavior, physical activity, and health conditions. The search formulas used for each database were created based on the PICO. Articles were screened by title, abstract, and full-text; fourteen articles met the criterion. The majority of articles concluded that food production experiences exerted positive effects on diet and health. In summary, the present study suggested that food production experiences have positive effects on food knowledge, food consciousness, food preference, eating behavior, physical activity, mental health, and social health.