Research Institute for High-Life

  

2: Summary of the Study Research

6 chapters and summaries below complete this study.

Chapter 1:
National regulation on Shokuiku, and engagement of local public organizations and enterprises.

In Japan, national goal of improvement plan on Shokuiku is realization of 9 headings written bellow.

• 1. Increase ratio of the national interest in Shokuiku.
• 2. Decrease ratio of the national having no breakfast.
• 3. Increase ratio of adopting local cultivated foods in school lunch program.
• 4. Increase ratio of the national taking meals following to balanced food guidance.
• 5. Increase ratio of the national understanding Metabolic Syndrome.
• 6. Increase volunteers involved in improvement of Shokuiku.
• 7. Increase ratio of cities, towns and villages engaged in Education-Farm
• 8. Increase ratio of the nation having fundamental knowledge about safety of foods.
• 9. Increase ratio of cities, towns and villages and the administrative divisions of Japan making and practicing improvement plans.

Typical suggestion based on the improvement plan is to compose healthy eating habits and to grapple with Metabolic-Syndrome.
The improvement plan on Shokuiku, targeted figures are set annually year concerning 9 items above and the results are announced in Shokuiku white paper in comparison to actual and targeted figures.
Together with these improving plans, each municipality and city, town and village made own improving plans and put them into practice.
As of June 2008, 95.7 % of the administrative divisions of Japan and 15% of cities, towns and villages have practiced their original plans.

Chapter 2:
Suggestion on Shokuiku so far and the subjects

It can be said that the theme of the Japanese life innovation in 21st century is concentrated on Health, Relief, Safety, and Environmental protection. The suggestion of Shokuiku follows those.
On the home page of the Cabinet Office they show background of enactment of Shokuiku Regulation as these 10 items below:

• 1: Decline of understanding or ability for judgment concerning diet.


• 2: Change of diet, tendencies to eat-out, lack of communication at meal times.


• 3: Unbalanced nutrition.


• 4: Lack of appreciation and understanding of foods.


• 5: Unregulated meals.
• *additionaly


• 6: Overweight and excessive loss of weight.


• 7: Increase of life style disease.


• 8: Loss of dietary culture.


• 9: Dependence on foreign countries for supplying foods.


• 10: Problems regarding safety of foods.

The first half are mainly problems or subjects about daily diet of consumers. And the later headings, 6: Overweight and excessive loss of weight. 7: Increase of life style disease. 8: Loss of dietary culture. are the results caused by the first half.
And the last two items are problems caused by policy.
The headings being coped with so far are maintained according to national political subjects on Shokuiku improvement programs, though we consider that their activity as a whole, looks so obscure in their course that they would lose their focus.
This study is engaged to raise effectiveness of Shokuiku suggestion and approach, framing the problems above as a hypothesis on the process to improve Shokuiku programs through our verification.
Before the study, we launched under the condition that the subjects of Shokuiku are quite different according to characteristics by generation.

Based on this thought, we adapted effective Shokuiku approach to each generation and researched the actual condition to define each Shokuiku consciousness, system and activity.
However, in 2008, we will launch our approach mainly to the families with infants or children who would take over next generation, expressing the rest due to restriction of limited time.

Chapter 3
Thoughts on Shokuiku Research of the families with infants or children

1) Object of Shokuiku study and others

Because of limited time and wide territory of study, we only focused on the families having infants or children who would form next generation and aimed at making far more progress of Shokuiku Study, which may become a core of future approach to every other generation.
In considering a of solution on consumer’s actual dietary life, shokuiku-mind or influence from mother’s experience of her dietary life in childhood, we researched mothers having infants or children about their aspects of consciousness, feeling and activity for dietary life and gaps between ideal and reality.
Consequently, from the research we reviewed the suggestions for having consciousness and the course of concrete approach of Shokuiku for children.
We subjected 10 headings, "guidance of eating-habits which becomes the foundation of a Balanced-Meal Guide as basic hypothesis; condition of creating solid point of view for Shokuiku approach in families with infants or children.

• 1.Enjoy having meals.
• 2.Daily routine of meals makes a good rhythm of healthy life.
• 3.Good balanced meal is based on staple, main and sub dishes.
• 4.Eat cereals such as rice, etc.
• 5.A good combination of vegetables, fruits, milk, dairy products, beans, fish and so on.
• 6.Minimize quantity of salt or fat.
• 7.Be conscious of proper weight and suitable quantity of foods for your life style.
• 8.Make use of national dietary culture, local products, or new cuisine.
• 9.Minimum waste by cooking wisely.
• 10.Reconsider your dietary life.

2) Hypothesis and Direction of Shokuiku Research for the families with infants or children

Engagement by state, local governments or other organizations are based on the thought of "Outside In" in which they wish to filter families with Shokuiku, proposed in the Dietary Life Guidance.
We wonder if there would be gaps between the Guidance and people’s intention or awareness, or higher ideals that would cause stagnation of Shokuiku improvement.
Therefore, we have to reconsider the way of Shokuiku education from "Outside In " to "Inside Out" in which Shokuiku is considered as what families could do in their real lives.
In considering this view, we define the reality of families’ dietary lives and their intention using 10 headings above and suggest solutions to pick up actual subjects on improvement of Shokuiku.

 

Chapter 4
Items seen in the survey about eating habits and reality of the families with infants or children

1) Summary-Research enforcement

In this Chapter, we summarized the consciousness and reality concerning dietary lives of mothers and children subjecting 320 mothers with infants or children (the first born, under 12-years of age) that live in the metropolitan area.

Result of the research is as follows,

• ＊Object of the research: mothers with children, under 12-years old who live in metropolitan area
• ＊Method of the research: combination of detention (filled in by themselves) and diary style.
• ＊Method of the sampling; area sampling style
• ＊Number of sample (validity); 320 people (the first born children are divided equally into four groups by age)
• ＊Contents of the research;
• a) Filling in questionnaire of consciousness and reality concerning dietary life
• b) Filling in diary about meals on Sunday and other days.
• ＊The date of the research; July 11 to July 22 in 2008.

 

2) Summary of the research
＊To grasp the reality of Shokuiku of families with infants or children
Among 10 items of the Dietary Life Guidance set by Ministry of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, we selected 3 aspects such as "action", "nutrition", and "emotion" to follow, and we defined the reality of Shokuiku by listening to mothers with under 12-year-old children about their consciousness and the reality with both themselves and their children.

＊Selection of three aspects among 10 Dietary Life Guidelines.

• (action) Daily routine of meals makes a good rhythm of healthy life.
• (action) Good balanced meal is based on staple, main and sub dishes.
• (nutrition) Eat cereals such as rice, etc.
• (nutrition) Consume a good combination of vegetables, fruits, milk, dairy products, beans, fish and so on.
• (nutrition) Minimize quantity of salt or fat.
• (nutrition) Be conscious of proper weight and suitable quantity of food for your life style.
• (emotion) Enjoy having meals

 

＊Listening research to mothers about consciousness of reality of themselves and under12-year-old children are enforced according to each aspect as follows,

• 1) (action) 5 items following "breakfast, every morning", "regulated life style" and others. (both to mothers and children)
• 2) (nutrition) 9 items as "well-balanced meal", " various foods without unbalanced diet" and so on.( Mothers have 10 items)
• 3) (emotion) 7 items as "meal together with family" "appreciation for foods" and so on. (both to mothers and children)
• 4) We also analyzed mothers’ tendency according to 4 aspects of life-styles: as "irregular rhythm of life-styles" "lower level of foods and nutrition" "higher level of foods and nutrition" and " pleasure of a happy home".

Consequently we defined the results enforcing various canalizations based on this research as follows,

 

3) Subject of improving Shokuiku
We arranged subjects to be solved and concluded them as follows,

   a) lack of knowledge for realization
      ex: cooking variation/how to cook/knowledge about nutrition or calories
   b) lack of times to learn knowledge to realize it.(too busy)
      ex: no times for learning or cooking
   c) lack of opportunity to practice (in case if having enough times)
      ex: no opportunity for learning, showing or giving experience to children
   d) reluctant and troublesome
      ex: troublesome to cook (easy for getting on the market) /reluctant to study

 

4) Tendency seen in the whole result of the research
The fundamental family life consisting of well-regulated life and healthy dietary life : well-regulated dietary life. To realize well-regulated life, parents would cook 3 daily meals for their children and take three complementary actions such as shopping, cooking and cleaning up together with children. These practices would be effective in reducing wasteful eating between meals and well understanding of breakfast’s indispensability.
Additionally these children would gain well-regulated living customs of going to bed early or rising early, attain such goals as "Acting in the morning" "Weighing oneself" or "Knowing foodstuff".

However, inside each family, there are lots of restrictions caused by parents, which interrupt accomplishment of each goal. These obstacles are "Going to bed late (both of parents and children)", "Ignorance about how to cook", "Cannot afford cooking times", "Wishing to finish preparation quickly" or "Reluctant to shop, prepare, clean or create menus" and so on.
In view of the three aspects the main subjects of our study being "action", "nutrition" and "emotion", it can be seen that "eating breakfast" gains high ratio of practice though, we focused on other subjects such as "Eating 3 regulated-meals, well-balanced nutrition and eating together with the family members".

Regarding, "To cook well-balanced meals" it is necessary for parents to have knowledge about nutrition of food stuffs, to hand down well-balanced meals to children and to think of variety of menus children will eat without unbalanced-diet.
However, there are such fundamental restrictions as "Cannot let children eat what they hate", "Cannot educate about nutrition to children", "Cannot understand what well-balanced foods are" or "Cannot think of menus or how to cook".
These will become a big theme to solve and we have to develop a way to approach them.
"Having meals with family-members" fundamental theme in "the aspect of emotion" is appropriate education in which children would learn manners and politeness, gratitude for foods, nutrition and not to leave leftovers.
Therefore such education would lead children join preparation or cleaning of their meals and consequently, create appropriate inherited style of dietary life handed down from parents to children.
But there are still some restrictions caused by such scattered times of each life style as "father’s late returning to home" "Children busy for some lessons or private tutoring" "Parents, staying up late for their private times after children went to bed".

These issues above indicate us that we have to lead them to understand and absorb what well-balanced nutrition is, together with knowledge about cuisine or food stuffs in order to realize what they learned in their dietary lives.
Then we have to suggest dietary cuisine that is matched to a change of daily lives, especially, to accepted matters throughout the year.
Additionally we also consider it may be necessary for us to suggest about ways to spend their dietary lives during holidays connecting with seasonal foods, according to each unit of family’s present life-style.
It is quite natural for fathers to return home late because they live in suburbs.
Considering increase of percentage of employed housewives, it would be difficult for to be expected to continue housework-style as before.
Therefore, we have to start realization of the family-table by each unit, offering foodstuffs and cuisines matched with meals in holidays and meals even on weekdays or Japanese events or festivals.

The percentage of people eating breakfast seen in our research is increasing by the effort of each organization and it is also improving among families with infants or children though, we consider that just eating breakfast is not enough.
We have to completely customize well-balanced nutrition by foodstuffs or menus and stress the importance of eating- breakfast with the family. To accomplish it, we have to suggest what parents do with their children. It is important to customize feelings of "togetherness" for example, as if children would say to their parents "It’s good, in the morning, with my family" when they drink milk or vegetable juice.
And it is reasonable that a nutritionist would think about well-balanced menus though, we would also suggest additional menus which contain meanings of eating foodstuffs and pleasure of eating with the family or importance of customization.
By the way, recently there are some negative opinions that children eat custom made foods by catering or delicatessens though, which cannot be denied because of some merits as saving time or supplemental aid for the lack of knowledge of menus or nutritious balance of foods. And when you buy these cooked foods at stores you could suggest to children that they take variety kinds of foods like "the healthy method of eating 30 items" and reduce their leftover items and then you would improve Shokuiku education as much as the education in schools.

 

Chapter 5:
Shokuiku approach for the families with infants or children


Chapter 6:
Suggestion and activity on Shokuiku, possible to realize and experience

1) Field of Shokuiku improvement
We will reconsider what we have seen to make Shokuiku approach to the families with infants or children clear within a frame of life structure and unveil element of each field.
The life structure can be divided into such three aspects as "Shokuiku action" "sense of values for Shokuiku (or diet)" and "unchangeable routine dietary patterns".
The points of view for "Shokuiku action" exist in gaps between reality and ideal and in the subject of action to be suggested.
In "sense of values for Shokuiku" it is important how you initiate or develop dietary mind based on health, relief and safety of diet as being a recognized right by everybody.
Concerning "unchangeable routine dietary patterns", you need to seek the way to handle or improve present routine dietary patterns in which you can see gaps between life structures.

2) What should you do to accelerate efficiency of Shokuiku on premise of what you could do in family life?
To accelerate efficiency, the way of approach in which you could experience the meanings or merits of Shokuiku thorough action, not through logical persuasion will be in dispensable.
We suggest concrete actions written below, bearing, in mind, the reality of dietary lives in the families we researched in this occasion.

• 1: Have something tasty on Sundays, holidays, festival days or anniversaries together with the family.
• 2: Think with children what you should eat on holidays.
• 3: Eat seasonal foods.
• 4: Know Japanese seasonal flavors and eat delicious dishes.
• 5: Cook with parents and children, then cuisine can be cooked easily and quickly and loved by everyone.
• 6: Think about nutritious balance by adding one more dish when you buy precooked daily dishes that are easy and convenient. (ex. salad, miso soup)
• 7: Shop with children if possible and study menus or foodstuffs at a department store.
• 8: Let children help you prepare the dinner table and make menus together.
• Set your own chopsticks and dishes on a table and bring the cuisine.
• Let children ask you what you need for the cuisine.
• 9: Pour glasses of milk or juice in children’s cups when they get up in the morning.
• 10: Have bread or rice in the morning every day.
• 11: Cook delicious vegetables and add one dish of salad or boiled food every time.
• 12: Limit leftovers, have a small quantity of a wide variety of food.
• (healthy diet of 30 items daily)
• Stock leftover and eat it tomorrow or arrange it for lunch.
• 13: Let children help you wash dishes.
• 14: Let children help you throw out garbage and study the right way of dumping.
• 15: Let children help you carry garbage.
• 16: Join a family cooking school held by towns, stores or food manufacturers and cook learned cuisine with your children.
• 17: Cook the dishes together on holidays, which children learned at a social class or a cooking school
• 18: Join an event for local products and consumption.
• 19: Visit local factories.
• 20: Weigh yourself after taking a bath. Know each proper weight of family members.
• 21: the others.　

Those written above are the actionable objects substituted according to reality of family’s eating habits for the Shokuiku guidance of national goal.
Simultaneously those are concrete actionable purposes lacked in the present fact of dietary life, considering true intention of Shokuiku guidance.
Regarding those written above, we can summarize the Shokuiku approach to the families with infants or children as some words as followings.

3) To complement the Shokuiku improvement of "Inside out" style by the approach of "Outside in" which is easy, joyful, realizing and experimental.

In dietary life of the Japanese there are such variety of aspects as seasonal feelings in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and the way of spending weekdays, weekends or holidays. Additionally, there are scenes of daily dietary lives composed by foods (object) and eating (action) and variety on days, seasons, weekdays, weekends, holidays, festival days or anniversaries and so on.
However as we have mentioned before, the scene of daily dietary life is collapsing because of time restrictions in each life pattern caused by increase of percentage of employed housewives, fathers returning late to home, or children going to coaching schools.
Menus of meals are becoming insufficient because of expansion of easy meals.
We stated suggestion for campaign that the family should have meals together on holidays to improve this phenomenon. Although, we understand that consumers cannot practice what they don’t know, concerning acquirement of knowledge about improvement of nutritious balance or nutrition contained in this campaign.
Consumers answered in our questionnaire that most of them did not have knowledge about nutrition and did not know how to realize it.
Although each related organization, nutritionist or cooking authority must inform by every possible means, the truth that consumers have not understood about nutritious balance means the truth has not been realized or experienced.
We consider that most effective way to lead or educate consumers on nutritious knowledge like written above, eating seasonal foods or well-balanced diet and so on is that we start our approach from the place where they buy foodstuffs.
The family with infants or children goes shopping 3 to 4 times a week, which means their frequency of buying foodstuffs is quite high. We conclude that the shopping place where they buy foodstuffs frequently must be the best place for them to experience and realize foodstuffs.
The leaflets or pamphlets delivered by home delivery services where they choose foods are also the place for their experience of seasonal foods or nutrition.

As we have stated before, as far as health of diet and Shokuiku approach in real lives
in which we focused consumers’ seasonal feelings and their ways to spend holidays or weekends are concerned, we consider that our approach at shopping places, their point of contact with foodstuffs, is quite an effective way to improve Shokuiku education.

Since they go shopping considering how to cook in their minds and consider variety of menus they eat on the day of shopping, meaning of the menus or meaning of eating the menus with the family, they could easily develop their feeling of enjoying meals together with the family and for solid ties with the family.
Therefore, our suggestion contains good ideas for well-balanced nutrition for the family and the pleasant way of eating, there will be a great possibility to function adequately as effective suggestion named, so to speak, Royal-Shokuiku- Approach.

Additionally, this approach contained matters of helping, cleaning and eating with family members that indicates establishment of status of local society or manufacturers who cooperate with the Shokuiku approach at the scene of shopping, which means that the approach is highly beneficial and we could expect a wide range of expansion of development on our Shokuiku approach hereafter.