The relations between a decline of facial muscular strength by the softening of foods and a decline of vision

1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 07838029
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 咀嚼
• Research Institution: Miyazaki University
• Principal Investigator: SHIMADA Akio Faculty of Education, Miyazaki University, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (70006724)
• Project Period (FY): 1995 – 1997
• Keywords: vision / food life / infant / occulusal force / occulusal pressure / area of occulusion / mastication / refraction

Research Abstract

Visual acuity of young Japanese is decreasing for these 40 years or more, and the maximum of mean value of the vision is now 5 to 6 years of age. It has suggested that one of the cause of the decline is a decline of facial muscular strength, and the author tried to measured the vision and the occulusal force of kindergarden children, and also asked their food life by the questionnaire.
The vision of the children were measured by the auto-refractometer and the occulusal force were mesured by the dental presucale method, and occulusal force, area of occulusion, occulusal pressure and the occulusal balance of right and left are discussed.
The most of the children aged 5 to 6 years have milk teeth, but there were many cases who have no dental abrasion. It means that their food life is carried on the soft food, and their occulusal force have been distributed between 480N and 6N.Regardless of two years age difference at the maximum, there were no differences at the distributuion of the visuaal acuity and occulusal force. In the sensual evaluation of the hardness of the foods, TOFU was the typical soft food. But, some children evaluated it as a food with usual hardness. It suggest that there are many problems in their food life after the weaning. We have to concern the method of the prevention of a decline of vision and occulusal force in the infant life.