The Japanese Association of School Health

Material

ISSN ONLINE : 1880-2400

[School Health Vol.3, 15-21, 2007]

The Correlation between Dietary Habits and Unidentified Complaints of Elementary School Children

Junke Gao*, Yoshiko Misho**, Yoshimi Kozono**, Mayumi Mikami***, Junko Kurimoto****, Hinako Yamamoto*****, Noriko Kishida****** and Masayuki Kakehashi*******

  • *Graduate School of Health Sciences, University of Hiroshima
  • 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minamiku, Hiroshima 734-8551 Japan
  • **School Meals and Health Section of the Secretariat of Education Committee in Hiroshima City
  • 1-6-34 Kokutaijimati, Nakaku, Hiroshima 730-8586 Japan
  • ***Hiroshima City Hijiyama Elementary School
  • 28-28 Kamishinonometyo, Minamiku, Hiroshima 734-0021 Japan
  • ****Hiroshima City Minami Elementary School
  • 1-15-32 Minamimati, Minamiku, Hiroshima 734-0007 Japan
  • *****Health and Longevity Section of Higashiku in Hiroshima City
  • 9-34 Higashikaniyatyo, Higashiku, Hiroshima 732-8510 Japan
  • ******Yasuda Women's University
  • 6-13-1 Yasuhigashi, Asaminamiku, Hiroshima 731-0153 Japan
  • *******Graduate School of Health Sciences, University of Hiroshima
  • 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minamiku, Hiroshima 734-8551 Japan
  • kakehashi@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

[Received September 20, 2006 ; Accepted June 12, 2007]

Keywords:
school health, dietary habits, unidentified complaints, odds ratio

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Abstracts

The objective of this study was to clarify the effect of dietary habits on unidentified complaints. A questionnaire survey was carried out in 2004 and the subjects were 901 children including 458 males and 443 females, from the 3rd grade to the 6th grade at two elementary schools. A chi-square test was applied to test the correlation between lifestyle and unidentified complaints. Then, cumulative logistic regression analysis was applied and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The results showed that lifestyle correlated with unidentified complaints significantly. Furthermore, disordered lifestyles showed higher odds ratios for unidentified complaints. Especially, compared with children who had breakfast everyday, odds ratio was 2.9 for males who seldom had breakfast, 4.2 for females. In addition, the frequency of defecation correlated not only with unidentified complaints, but also with the habit of having breakfast. Therefore, we concluded that dietary habits are an imported part of the lifestyle of children and it is possible to reduce unidentified complaints through modifying disordered dietary habits.

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