A Study of Health Disorders in Women Farmers in Niigata Prefecture with Reference to Agricultural Production Structure / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

In Niigata Prefecute, which is known as Japan's major agricultural district, the number of farm households is on the downward tendency. The ratio of full-time farmers is decreasing, the scale of farming per household is becoming larger, and the number of farmhouses with supplementary incomes from non-agricultural businesses are growing fastly.<BR>Amid increasing trend of farm management toward complexity, women play a large role, accounting nearly 60 percent of the total number of those engaged in agriculture in Niigata Prefecture. Production structure, life style, working conditions and everything have changed drastically.<BR>Such being the situation, it is worth while to try an investigation into the actual conditions of health and labor of women farmers, and to shed light on health-injurious factors and work loads.<BR>We have selected communities so as to obtain a cross section of the farming areas of Niigata, which consists of a large plain called Japan's rice producing center, mountainous districts covered with snow for one-trird of a year, and suburban areas.