ABSTRACT
This study investigates the relation of fecal production and dietary habits and life-styles in four 21 to 22 year-old healthy female students. The survey was conducted over 30 days and was repeated twice. All feces that were discharged were collected and weighed. The subjects performed very little physical exercise. The fecal weight, the number of defecations per day, gastrointestinal symptoms, feeling of incomplete defecation and of abdominal distention were recorded. The fecal weight was converted to autocorrelation, and the day-by-day variation was examined by a time series analysis (correlogram). Free access to foods was allowed. The weight of each food item was weighed for nutritional evaluation. The daily number of steps walked and sleeping hours were taken as indicators of life-style. The average fecal weight ranged from 96.8 g/day to 127.8 g/day, with a grand mean for the four subjects of 94.1 g/day. The average number of times of defecation during the 60 days period was 53 to 72, or 0-3 a day. The subjects tended to have feeling of incomplete defecation when the stool was hard and fecal weight was less than 100 g per day, whereas the subjects felt incomplete defecation less frequently when the stool was well-formed or pasty. The time series analysis by correlogram indicates that the variation in fecal weight formed a 3-4 day cycle and that the cycle was irrelevant to fecal weight. This survey shows that there was no apparent correlation among the fecal weight and nutrient intake, the number of meals per day, the number of steps walked or sleeping hours per day. It also indicates that defecation factors differ from individual to individual.
