Epidemiological study on the development and evaluation of an educational method for the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases with a focus on salt reduction from childhood

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K18967
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 58030:Hygiene and public health-related: excluding laboratory approach
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: SATA Mizuki 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 講師(非常勤) (00822652)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 生活習慣病 / コホート研究 / 児童生徒 / 健康教育 / 食塩摂取

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Through collaborating with local educators and researchers, we developed textbooks for health education among elementary and junior high school students. Schoolteachers have provided health education to students using these books. Questionnaire surveys and spot urine tests have been conducted for the students and their parents to evaluate the changes in their knowledge and behavior regarding salt reduction and estimated salt intake. We also investigated the association of lifestyle habits in childhood with subsequent health status using a cohort of Japanese children followed at the ages of 3, 6, 12, 22, and 27 years. We presented at national conferences and published a paper in an international academic journal about the results of a survey on dietary habits, mainly salt intake, among children and a long-term follow-up study.

Free Research Field

公衆衛生学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

義務教育課程での継続的な健康教育は、子供を通して家庭への波及効果も期待でき、保護者に対する健康教育としても重要な機会となる。また、児童期・思春期の食塩摂取の状況はこれまで十分に把握されていなかった。食に対する嗜好は小児期の食事の影響を強く受け、それには家族の影響が大きいことから、子供やその保護者の食塩摂取の実態を明らかにすることは、次世代の生活習慣病予防を進める上で重要である。加えて、大学入学や就職等で生活習慣が大きく変化する成人初期を対象とする追跡調査からのエビデンスの創出は、より早期からの生涯を通じた生活習慣病予防のために欠かせない。