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

ABSTRACT

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.