Investigation of contributing factors in preschool children who wake up independently and evaluation of the effects of improving lifestyle habits using stress indicators

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25350066
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Home economics/Human life
• Research Institution: Mukogawa Women's University
• Principal Investigator: KISHIMOTO MIKAKO 武庫川女子大学, 生活環境学部, 准教授 (80312130)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): MURAKAMI AYUMI 福井大学, 学術研究院教育・人文社会系部門(教員養成), 准教授 (50321146) ; TAKEUCHI KEIKO 福井大学, 学術研究院教育・人文社会系部門(教員養成), 准教授 (70313723)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 幼児 / 唾液コルチゾール / 自立起床 / 生活習慣

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated the contributing factors in preschool children who wake up independently and evaluated the effects of improving lifestyle habits using salivary cortisol as a stress indicator. The salivary cortisol concentration of preschool children who wake up independently follows a typical circadian rhythm, and the cortisol awakening response tended to be low among children who do not wake up independently. We asked parents to proactively feed calcium-containing foods to target preschool children. A strong correlation was observed between salivary cortisol concentrations and sampling time, and no difference was observed in the concentrations before and after the intervention. Although the effect of meal improvement on waking independently could not be clarified, the daytime saliva cortisol concentration of preschool children who wake up independently and those who became able to wake up independently tended to be low and they tended to consume a lot of foods containing calcium.

Free Research Field

応用栄養学