ABSTRACT
Purpose@#Not enough attention has been paid to defecation habits in Japan. This study aimed to emphasize the importance of defecation habits on health and function in Japanese pupils. @*Methods@#Using multiple regression analysis, 2,722 questionnaires obtained from pupils in grades 5 to 12 were analyzed to determine lifestyle habits associated with defecation frequency. @*Results@#Significant regression formulae for defecation scores were obtained for all school types: elementary school (ES) (adjusted R2 =0.08, p<0.001), junior high school (JHS) (0.09, p<0.001), and senior high school (SHS) (0.15, p<0.001). The following factors were associated with poorer defecation scores, according to school type: female gender (all 3 school types), breakfast skipping (elementary and JHSs), lower physical activity (JHSs and SHSs), and longer school-day screen time (elementary and SHSs). In addition, poorer selfreported academic performance scores in ES, less standardized body mass index (BMI) in JHS, and shorter non-school- day screen time scores in SHS, were associated with poorer defecation scores. @*Conclusion@#Poor defecation frequency showed significant associations with various lifestyle habits, such as breakfast skipping, physical activity, and screen time, among pupils. Academic performance and standardized BMI were also associated with defecation frequency. More attention should be paid to defecation frequency to sustain health and function in pupils.
ABSTRACT
We retrospectively studied the physical and neurological prognoses of 51 small-for-date infants (SFD) who had been taken care in our faculty during the neonatal period. The values of physical measurements of SFD at one and two years of age were both significantly smaller than those of the controlled appropriate-for-date infants. Majority of infants with symmetrical intrauterine growth retardation, whose head circumferences at birth were under -1.5 S. D., showed many complications during the neonatal period, for example; hypoglycemia and polycytemia, and their neurological prognoses were poorer than those with asymmetrical intrauterine growth retardation. To improve these grave prognoses, we stressed the necessity of the system which can provide strict maternal and neonatal care as well as the continuous observation even during the grownup under the co-operation of obstetrician and pediatrician.
