A comprehensive assessment of factors affecting obesity in Japan and their implications for global health

2017 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17F17824
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: ギルモー スチュアート 東京大学, 大学院医学系研究科(医学部), 准教授 (20608913)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NIKOLAOU CHAROULA 東京大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 外国人特別研究員
• Project Period (FY): 2017-11-10 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: Nutrition / Diet / Policy / Review

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

In the first six months of this project we have successfully hired a research assistant and begun collating and reviewing policy documents regarding the food environment and food policies in Japan. We have obtained data on vending machine use and contents from the European Union, and are currently negotiating to obtain the same data from the equivalent Japanese vending machine associations. We have identified collaborators in agricultural policy and nutrition history in Japan, and with their assistance identified important historical documents relevant to food policy in Japan.

As part of this research we have begun to identify key differences in food policy between Japan and Europe, including differences in the structure of the food pyramid in different countries, different history of development of food policies, and differences in dietary policies in major food preparation companies in Japan and Europe. This policy review has already identified key differences in food environment between Europe and Japan. The CI will present some of these results at key conferences in Europe in May, and make further contacts for accessing policy documents from the EU.

This grant also hosted an educational visit and collaboration with Prof. Mike Lean, a world-renowned expert on food policy and dietary interventions from Glasgow, Scotland.

Current Status of Research Progress

1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.

Reason

With the help of a highly qualified research assistant we have made significantly better progress on our policy review and document assessment than previously expected.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

This year we will complete the policy document review and comparative analysis, and submit the research results to a major international journal. We also aim to write a short report that will be translated into Japanese and disseminated to key decision makers in Japan. We also aim to collect data on dietary recommendations from key businesses, restaurant chains and supermarkets and analyze this to identify the role of private business decisions in weight management in Japan.

We also aim to identify a data set of randomly sampled small restaurants from randomly selected areas in Tokyo and some rural areas, with the aim of administering a structured interview-based research program in the last six months of the project.