Dietary habits and selenium intake of residents in mountain and coastal communities in Japan.

We used a Simple Food Frequency Questionnaire (SFFQ) in combination with other dietary approaches to estimate the selenium intake from different food groups based on the average long-term diet, in two rural communities in Japan, one in a mountain area and the other in a coastal area. The intake frequencies of rice and wheat products were significantly different in the two districts. The intake frequencies of fish, meat, and eggs, which are rich in selenium, were not significantly different. The mean dietary selenium intake, estimated from the SFFQ and the 24-h recall method, was 82.7 microg/d (n=234) (range 19.2-180.1 microg/d) in the mountain community. The mean dietary selenium intake estimated from the SFFQ and average value of the normal portion size was 118.0 microg/d (n=123) (range 22.6-255.3 microg/d) in the coastal community. These estimated mean values exceeded the Japanese RDA, although the range of daily selenium intake was large. In the mountain community, fish made the largest contribution to dietary selenium intake (48.2% of daily total), followed by eggs (24.3%), and meat (17.0%). In the coastal community, fish accounted for 57.7% of daily total selenium intake, followed by meat (17.5%), and eggs (16.1%). In both districts, the total contribution of rice and wheat products was around 10%. It was found that the contribution of fish to dietary selenium intake was high and the contribution of cereals was low among Japanese.

[Factors related to the mental health of workers dispatched to foreign countries].

The purpose of this study was to elucidate factors related to mental health standards of workers dispatched to foreign countries. The subjects were 317 male employees of an electronics company aged between 30 and 49 yr who were first dispatched to North America, Southeast Asia, or Western Europe without movement between the actual locations. A questionnaire survey was conducted on these subjects. Items of investigation consisted of 12 General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) items (indices of mental health standards), 4 baseline characteristics (age, assignment period, areas, and types of work), and 37 other items such as sociocultural factors, medical-sanitary factors, work factors, daily lifestyle factors, social support factors, and environmental factors. Multiple regression analysis was performed on the GHQ scores as criterion variables and baseline characteristics and various factors as explanatory variables. As a result, the following factors were correlated with GHQ scores in workers dispatched to foreign countries: inconvenience caused by different manners and customs (beta = 0.256) among sociocultural factors: inability to understand doctor's instructions (beta = 0.129) among medical-sanitary factors: bad relationships with local superiors (beta = 0.229) and the frequency of paid vacation in a year (beta = -0.129) among work factors: taking exercise less than once in a week (beta = 0.141) and smoking habit (beta = 0.136) among daily lifestyle factors, and lack of communication with the family (beta = 0.177), lack of persons to consult with (beta = 0.138), being dispatched alone (beta = 0.119), and lack of cultural exchange with the local community (beta = 0.117) among social support factors. Since social support factors accounted for 4 of the 10 items related to GHQ scores, personal relationships may be important for mental health in workers dispatched to foreign countries.

Relationship of dietary intake of fish and non-fish selenium to serum lipids in Japanese rural coastal community.

Several studies have suggested that dietary selenium deficiency may be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). In the present study, 55 men and 71 women were selected from participants in a health examination in a rural coastal community in Japan. The mean dietary selenium intake calculated from the simple food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) was 127.5 micrograms/day. Fish was the major source of dietary selenium and it contributed to 68.7% of the daily total. HDL cholesterol was higher in the middle selenium intake group and in the high selenium intake group than in the low selenium intake group in all subjects and for males, and a significant difference was found between the middle selenium intake group and the low selenium intake group. The atherogenic index was significantly higher in the low selenium intake group than in the middle selenium intake group and in the high selenium intake group in males. GPx activity, total cholesterol and triacylglycerols did not show any significant differences among the three different selenium intake groups. Dietary intake of non-fish Se had a positive correlation with HDL cholesterol, and an inverse correlation with the atherogenic index in all subjects and for females. On the other hand, dietary intake of fish-Se had no relationship with any serum lipids. Non-fish Se is an important factor in selenium status for the prevention of CHD.