The lifestyle of children is primarily controlled by their parents, and that childhood obesity is related to family variables. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental perceptions on ...The lifestyle of children is primarily controlled by their parents, and that childhood obesity is related to family variables. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental perceptions on childhood obesity and their child’s overweight/obesity in Japan. The study subjects were 3168 school children (aged 9 or 10 years) and their parents in the town of Ina, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, between 2002 and 2009. Information regarding parental perceptions about childhood obesity and the lifestyle factors of their children was collected using self-administered questionnaires completed by the participants and their parents. Childhood over-weight was defined according to the International Obesity Task Force cutoffs. Parental perceptions on childhood obesity were significantly associated with their child’s overweight status. Specifically, low perceptions regarding childhood obesity significantly increased the odds ratio (OR) for the child’s overweight status (OR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.32 - 2.62). However, when the analysis was limited to children with both parents being overweight, there was no statistically significant difference between levels of parental perceptions and the overweight status of their children. Accordingly, the present study suggests that, when both parents are obese, not only is raising parental awareness important, but also encouraging parents to prevent themselves from becoming overweight, leads to improvements in the lifestyle habits of children, which may contribute to the prevention of childhood overweight.展开更多
The Healthy Japan 21 project launched in FY2000 advocated dissemination of the knowledge that intake of about 20 g of pure alcohol per day represents a “moderate” drinking level. The aim of the present study was to ...The Healthy Japan 21 project launched in FY2000 advocated dissemination of the knowledge that intake of about 20 g of pure alcohol per day represents a “moderate” drinking level. The aim of the present study was to explore various points that have been debated with regard to “moderate drinking”. An Internet-based questionnaire survey was administered to normal adults who habitually drank alcohol one or more days a week, and we studied the amount of alcohol consumed by those who responded that they did moderately without fail. Gender-based logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between “non-moderate drinking” on the one hand and drinking frequency, marital status, and lifestyle habits on the other. Responses were obtained from 1088 persons (548 men and 540 women) (response rate: 57.6%), of whom 31.9% of the men and 53.6% of the women responded that they drank moderately without fail. Among these drinkers, 54.6% of the men and 78.2% of the women in reality drank moderately. For both men and women, the odds ratio (OR) for “non-moderate drinking” increased as drinking frequency increased. When “1 to 2 days a week” was taken as the reference, the OR values for “every day” were 8.69 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.98 - 15.14) for men and 7.35 (95% CI: 4.20 - 12.88) for women. Furthermore, significantly higher ORs were observed among both single men and single women, and among male smokers. The present study has clarified that dissemination of knowledge about “moderate drinking” has not been effective. Encouraging more awareness of the importance of drinking frequency is also considered necessary.展开更多
文摘The lifestyle of children is primarily controlled by their parents, and that childhood obesity is related to family variables. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental perceptions on childhood obesity and their child’s overweight/obesity in Japan. The study subjects were 3168 school children (aged 9 or 10 years) and their parents in the town of Ina, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, between 2002 and 2009. Information regarding parental perceptions about childhood obesity and the lifestyle factors of their children was collected using self-administered questionnaires completed by the participants and their parents. Childhood over-weight was defined according to the International Obesity Task Force cutoffs. Parental perceptions on childhood obesity were significantly associated with their child’s overweight status. Specifically, low perceptions regarding childhood obesity significantly increased the odds ratio (OR) for the child’s overweight status (OR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.32 - 2.62). However, when the analysis was limited to children with both parents being overweight, there was no statistically significant difference between levels of parental perceptions and the overweight status of their children. Accordingly, the present study suggests that, when both parents are obese, not only is raising parental awareness important, but also encouraging parents to prevent themselves from becoming overweight, leads to improvements in the lifestyle habits of children, which may contribute to the prevention of childhood overweight.
文摘The Healthy Japan 21 project launched in FY2000 advocated dissemination of the knowledge that intake of about 20 g of pure alcohol per day represents a “moderate” drinking level. The aim of the present study was to explore various points that have been debated with regard to “moderate drinking”. An Internet-based questionnaire survey was administered to normal adults who habitually drank alcohol one or more days a week, and we studied the amount of alcohol consumed by those who responded that they did moderately without fail. Gender-based logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between “non-moderate drinking” on the one hand and drinking frequency, marital status, and lifestyle habits on the other. Responses were obtained from 1088 persons (548 men and 540 women) (response rate: 57.6%), of whom 31.9% of the men and 53.6% of the women responded that they drank moderately without fail. Among these drinkers, 54.6% of the men and 78.2% of the women in reality drank moderately. For both men and women, the odds ratio (OR) for “non-moderate drinking” increased as drinking frequency increased. When “1 to 2 days a week” was taken as the reference, the OR values for “every day” were 8.69 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.98 - 15.14) for men and 7.35 (95% CI: 4.20 - 12.88) for women. Furthermore, significantly higher ORs were observed among both single men and single women, and among male smokers. The present study has clarified that dissemination of knowledge about “moderate drinking” has not been effective. Encouraging more awareness of the importance of drinking frequency is also considered necessary.
