2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Factors contributing to fatigue among elderly farmers and the significance of providing improved diet as social support
| Project/Area Number |
16500535
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Eating habits, studies on eating habits
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| Research Institution | Ube Frontier College |
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Principal Investigator |
SHIRONO Setsuko Ube Frontier College, Department of Food and Nutrition, Professor, 食物栄養学科, 教授 (80154384)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
ARAMAKI Teruyo Ube Frontier College, Department of Food and Nutrition, Professor, 食物栄養学科, 教授 (40141692)
WAKUI Tadaaki Ube Frontier College, Department of Wellness and Welfare, Professor, 生活福祉学科, 教授 (40220850)
HARADA Noriaki Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Department of Hygiene, Professor, 医学部, 教授 (70116747)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | fatigue / agricultural workers / elderly / fatigue questionnaire / lifestyle / dietary life |
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| Research Abstract |
In Japan's rapidly aging society, farmers are aging, resulting in an increased proportion of female farmers. In the present study, measures for improving the health of elderly farmers, including measures for reducing fatigue, with a focus on the significance of providing improved diet as social support were identified through comprehensive analysis of lifestyle-related factors. Specifically, the relationship between disease and lifestyle habits such as diet, dietary habits and health problems in the elderly, and a survey of working stress associated with agricultural work, which is considered to cause physical fatigue were investigated.
A questionnaire survey examining fatigue was conducted on citrus fruit farmers in Yamaguchi Prefecture together with a general health examination. A laboratory model was developed, which allowed the synthetic evaluation of working stress, health status, and the effects of eating habits on fatigue. Subsequently, laboratory model based on citric culture at
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mountain area was designed by adopting healthy young subjects. Based on the subjective symptoms of fatigue during farm work, which were identified using measurements of heart rate, blood glucose level, and lactic acid level, it was suggested that eating habits had an effect on fatigue. Based on this finding, it was considered necessary to conduct further research on working stress, health status, and the effects of long-term eating habits on fatigue. As a preliminary survey, a fatigue questionnaire and a nutrition survey based on the brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire (BDHQ) were conducted on elderly female farmers, and the effects of eating habits were investigated.
Focusing on problems regarding nutritional status and dietary habits as well as problems of diet on health status and fatigue, further research conducted on a greater number of subjects over a greater geographical area is needed to investigate measures for improving potential health problems that occur in the lives of the elderly. Less
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