People’s Attitude Toward Eating Habits and Health in Japanese Rural Area / 日本農村医学会雑誌

　　As part of the special study project of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine (JARM), a questionnaire survey was conducted to probe into the attitude of rural people toward their eating habits and health. Most of the people surveyed had received health checkups carried out by medical facilities affiliated with the JARM.　　Questionnaires were distributed to a total of 5,397 people (2,588 men; 2,809 women) living in and around provincial cities. Mean age was 53.4 for men and 53.8 for women. More than half of those questioned were farmers or had experienced in farming. The people aged 80 and older accounted for 3.2% of the total.　　Eighty percent of the total said they felt happy, and those who felt short of exercise also represented 80%, but with advancing age, the ratio decreased. Those over the age of 70 who said they had a habit of taking exercise made up as high as 60%.　　Many said they were satisfied with food in terms of quantity, but not a few people expressed uneasiness about food safety, dietary life and supply of food. Regarding favorite foodstuffs, many gave rice, vegetables and dairy products. There was a tendency for older people to eat meat less. It was found that, with increasing age, people took to eat dairy products, soybeans, vegetables, fruits and fish were ranked among the most popular foodstuffs.　　A study of factors related to local production for local consumption and commitment to agriculture found that a significantly large number of people were interested in social participation, eating breakfast, securing food supply and purchasing foodstuffs at outlet stores run by local agricultural cooperatives.　　From these findings, it was suggested that many residents in and around provincial cities oriented themselves to healthy eating habits and lifestyle, and were very interested in social participation, local economy, agricultural production and consumption of local farm produce.

Case-Control Studies of Lung Cancer and Stomach Cancer Cases in Mountain Villages and Farming-Fishing Villages / 日本農村医学会雑誌

Studying the causes of death among inhabitants in mountain villages located alongside the middle stream of the Tenryu River, and farming-fishing villages located along Tokyo Bay, we found that the death rate from lung cancer was high in the former, and that from stomach cancer was high in the latter. So, in those two districts, we carried out case-control studies about both kinds of cancer. Investigation was made into the dead cases from lung cancer, 84 male cases and 168 male controls, and the dead cases from stomach cancer, 83 male and 39 female cases and the same number of controls. We selected these controls, matching district, sex, age, and year of death, and studied occupation and smoking in lung cancer cases ; occupation, eating habits, kinds of food, drinking and smoking in stomach cancer cases. The odds ratio concerning to lung cancer was as low as 0.40 among people engaged in agriculture, forestry or fishery. But that was as high as 3.25 among people exposed to metal dust, and also as high as 3.10 among those exposed to wood dust. The multiplier effect could be suggested between smoking and metal or wood dust exposure. The odds ratio concerning to stomach cancer was as low as 0.69 among males engaged in agriculture, forestry or fishery. Regarding eating habits, ‘rapid eating’ was as high as 2.57 in males, 3.00 in females. Concerning the kinds of food, ‘salted fish’ was as high as 1.90 in males, and ‘white vegetables’ was as low as 0.36 in females. No assocciation was found between stomach cancer and smoking or drinking.

Blood test findings among inhabitants of middle age in rural districts / 日本農村医学会雑誌

Over the three years from 1980 to 1982, investigations were carried out into the health conditions of inhabitants aged 30 to 69 in rural regions of Chiba Prefecture.<BR>The major findings are as follows:<BR>(1) Significant sex differences exist for many blood test findings.<BR>(2) Significant correlations are found among values of many blood test findings.<BR>(3) These values are analyzed by principal component analysis and some factors are extracted. First of them is found both men and women in all districts similarly and is identified as something of nutritional condition.

Primary health care in rural communities / 日本農村医学会雑誌

A survey concerning primary health care was taken in two mountainous villages (populations: 8, 600 and 5, 400) in Shizuoka Prefecture and two farming and fishing villages (12, 000 and 7, 100) in Chiba Prefecture. In these four communities, the aged account for more than 17% of the population. The crude death rate is high. The rate of population growth is below zero. The infant mortality rate and the stillbirth rate are low.<BR>The major causes of death are malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases, and heart diseases. Pneumonia, accidents and suicide are above the national average. The annual revenue and expenditure of the national health insurance system are below the national average. Among the impatients, the rates of those suffering from mental disorder and circulatory diseases are high, while many cases of the outpatients are circulatory diseases.<BR>Medical institutions have difficulty in meeting with the demand of inhabitants. Some town cannot bear the burden of medical expenditures and gets into financial trouble. Health and Welfare services are inadequate due to the shortage of personnel. Health activities among inhabitants are in the doldrums. Clinics do not function as a provider of family medicine.<BR>These are the major findings of the survey. The establishment of primary health care is badly needed.

The survey of living and health about fishermen engaged in coastal fisheries in the south of Chiba prefecture / 日本農村医学会雑誌

We have made a survey of living, labor and health about fishermen-122 males, 87 females-living in three coastal villages in the south of Chiba prefecture.<BR>The fisheries of this district are mainly done by using hooks and nets; the former has three types, that is, “tatenawa”, “haenawa” and “saozuri”, the latter has three types, that is, “teichiami”, “sashiami” and “aguriami”. The fishing boats are smaller than 5 tons. In men, the days of labor all the year round are 220 more or less, and women assist men in doing the fishery.<BR>On food life, both men and women intake fish & shellfish, white vegetables, and fruits in plenty, but they intake milk and dairy products scantily. The average rates of drinking and smoking are each about 70% in men, and each 15%, 8% in women.<BR>Executing health examination, we find that the average rates of hypertention arenot high, and the ones of ECG abnomality are low. The average rates of obesity about BMI-greater than 26-are 20% in men, and 24% in women.<BR>Moreover, the rate of anemia is low, the rate of hyperlipemia (serum triglyceride, greater than 150 mg/dl) is high, and the rate of the persons with high serum binding urea nitrogen (greater than 20.0 mg/dl) is high.<BR>As for Nofusho syndrome, fishermen frequently suffer from nycturia or sleeplessness, adding shoulder stiffness or lumbago.

Blood test findings among inhabitants of middle age or over in fishing and farming villages in Chiba prefecture / 日本農村医学会雑誌

Over the three years from 1980 to 1982, investigations were carried out into the living and working conditions of fishermen and farmers aged 30 to 59 in a coastal region of Chiba prefecture. The major findings are as follows:<BR>(1) Man-years of work are less in the fishing communities than in the farming villages. Especially, women in the fishing communities work less.<BR>(2) As for food intake, Fishing people consume larger amounts of fish and shellfish (animal protein) than farmers, while farmers eat a good deal of vegetables and rice compared with fishermen.<BR>(3) Blood' tests revealed that hemoglobin, serum iron, total serum cholesterol, uric acid, GOT and GPT values are higher in fishermen than in farmers. HDL cholesterol levels were higher in the agrarian population. There was no great difference in serum protein, albumin, triglyceride, alkaliphosphatase, and cholinesterase levels.<BR>(4) The obesity rate is higher in the fishing villages than in the farming villages. Especially the obesity incidence is notably high among women in the fishing communities.