We studied the availability of remote nutritional education by introducing a Web-based meeting system to the coursework and food education activities at two training colleges for nutritionists in Tokyo and Gifu. In this study, we employed an open-source Web conferencing software called “OpenMeetings,” which is available in the common Web facilities equipped with its Web server. Superior functions of this system include sharing information through uploaded document files and “white board” (on which every participant can write freely during a Web meeting), and the capability to observe the expressions of each participant, including oneself, on the same screen. By using this system, we were able to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the learning experiences of those students who used the Web-based system to those who were taught via a conventional classroom. We also made the college students in Tokyo practice implementing nutrition education using OpenMeetings with the college students in Gifu by pretending to be diabetes patients and their families. Subsequently, other students in Gifu, who could observe through the same screens, evaluated the simulated nutrition lesson by scoring it and statistically analyzing the results.
Remote nutritional education using the Web requires users to become familiar with how to operate a PC;however, it has many merits including the following:(1) it takes no time and there are no costs for a patient to go to the clinic for nutritional advice, (2) it is easy to adjust the time and place guidance is given, (3) it is possible for not only the client, but also their family or career who cooks their meals, to participate in the Web-based meeting from various locations, (4) each person involved in the meeting can maintain eye contact with each other on the same screen, and (5) both clients and nutrition guides may feel less emotional tension due to not being in a confined space together.
Since everybody has a personal computer, or can access one easily, this study showed that the Web-based meeting system is a very promising tool for remote nutritional education, as well as for effective training and communication among nutritionists or for managing nutritionists.

View full abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the current eating habits of families in Fukushima, and obtain basic data for nutritional education to support health promotion. The subjects were 734 parents whose children attended nurseries and kindergartens. As the results, almost 50% responded “they were changed” on comparing their eating habits with those before the Great East Japan Earthquake. The following decreases were observed in family consumption : Mushrooms, 149 persons (20.3%) ; Fish and Shells, 142 persons (19.3%) ; Vegetables, 74 persons (10.1%) ; Seaweeds, 74 persons (10.1%) ; Fruits, 62 persons (8.4%). As vegetables contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, it recommended to intake more vegetables for the growth of children and prevention of life-related diseases as part of a future nutritional education program. In addition, we measured the removal rate of radioactive cesium in the cooking and processing of food. A reduction of radioactive pollution was verified by washing, boiling (discarding the cooking water), and peeling.

View full abstract

In order to increase interest in food, palate education composed of hands-on activities and guidance during school lunch was conducted on fourth graders, and the effect of the education was examined. Fourth graders at N women’s university elementary school were divided into two groups : an intervention group (n＝39) and a control group (n＝39). From October through December of 2013, palate education was implemented including three classes of dietary education and guidance during school lunch to verify the learned subject. Effect evaluation was assessed by a questionnaire on how much they had learned during the education period, attitude during school lunch, inspection of the uneaten food after lunch and analysis of work sheets. The students from the intervention group showed improvement in “conditions to eat with pleasure” after the education, and the percentage of the uneaten food significantly declined during the education period. Further, the relation between the students’ “aim” and “review” was shown in each class. It was considered that this education steered students’ interest toward “how to enjoy eating”.

View full abstract

We studied the association between the awareness of vegetable consumption and its frequency among participants of dietary education events performed in the community (n＝106, 24 male and 82 female) and at a school festival (n＝86, 19 male and 67 female). Participants who reported “low vegetable consumption” as a concern related to dietary habits (aware participants) accounted for 44.2 and 26.4% of those participating in the school festival (school festival group) and community-based events (community group), respectively, indicating a significant difference between the two groups (p<0.01).
We compared the frequency of vegetable consumption between those with and without awareness for each event. In the school festival group, no difference was noted between those with and without awareness for breakfast and lunch whereas, for dinner, those reporting “very rarely” accounted for 5.4 and 0% of the aware and unaware participants, respectively, and those reporting “nearly every day” accounted for 48.6 and 80.9%, respectively, indicating a significant difference between those with and without awareness (p<0.01).
In the community group, those reporting “nearly every day” for lunch accounted for 25.9 and 57.1% of the aware and unaware participants, respectively, indicating a significant difference between them. Those reporting “2 or 3 times per week” for dinner accounted for 21.4 and 4.2%, respectively, as well as those “nearly every day” for 60.7 and 81.7%, respectively, indicating a significant difference between those with and without awareness (p<0.05).
We asked the participants to freely describe up to 3 vegetable dishes that they frequently consumed. “Salad” was reported by 69.8 and 38.7% of the school festival and community groups, respectively, and “Stir-fried vegetables” by 50.0 and 35.8%, respectively, indicating a significant difference between the two groups (p<0.001、p<0.05, respectively). “Others” was reported by 32.6 and 92.5%, respectively, indicating a significant difference between the two groups (p<0.001). In terms of the frequently consumed vegetable dishes, no difference was noted between those with and without awareness.
The present survey suggests that persons less frequently eating vegetables are personally aware of their “low vegetable consumption”. In the future, we will need to explore the reason for a low frequency of vegetable consumption, and provide advice on specific actions to be taken for improvement at each event for dietary education.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the need for dietary education adopting the viewpoint of lifestyle disease prevention. A questionnaire survey about eating habits was conducted for high school students in Osaka before a dietary education lecture entitled “Let’s make miso soup with sufficient vegetables.” For the 72 respondents suitable for analysis, we examined the relation of consciousness of the need for salt reduction and vegetable intake with eating habits and subjective symptoms. The results showed that 70.8% of the students thought that consuming too much salt led to a lifestyle disease, while only 18.1% of them were conscious of the need for salt reduction. In the group conscious of the need for salt reduction, a higher ratio of students had dietary behaviors associated with salt reduction and noticed fewer subjective symptoms compared with the group not conscious of the need. On the other hand, 43.1% of students were conscious of the need for vegetable intake. Vegetable intake was low in most of the students. In the group conscious of the need for vegetable intake, a higher ratio of students ate more vegetables and had many desirable dietary behaviors compared with the group not conscious of the need.
This study suggested that the consciousness of the need for salt reduction and vegetable intake of high school students had desirable relations with their eating habits and subjective symptoms. Further studies are required to ascertain whether these findings can be replicated in other students.

View full abstract