[A system of health education using dietary assessment]

We decided to focus attention on healthy young people, and to conduct a survey of their diet, as well as their physical activity and health condition, so that we made diagnoses and also give instructions on each subject using a computer program to promote their health. We carried out this experiment using this method with 836 young female subjects in order to find out whether it can be applied as a useful health education approach. 1. According to the survey, when the subjects made efforts in making the instructions as convenient as possible, the percentage of subjects who could carry out advice even 4 months later was seen to be higher. 2. The advice for which a significantly high percentage of subjects said "want to improve their daily action" and could actually carry out and improve them, was as follows: they should eat vegetables, have a substantial breakfast, drink milk every day, refrain from too much salt, not go without meals, increase the frequency of eating seaweed, and refrain from snacks. 3. The two kinds of scores used to evaluate diets showed that assessment after nine months gave lower values than those obtained when this survey started. Using these two evaluating scores, changes in diets were divided into five patterns, and their relation to the question "whether they used the advice or not" was examined. As a result, the percentage showing favorable diet changes in subjects who "took advice" was showed to be significantly high. 4. Subjects who received advice on physical activity exhibited improvement in carrying out routine exercises as well as making their daily life more active. 5. With subjects who took advice on both diet and physical activity, the number who complained about fatigue was significantly reduced. Although it is difficult to improve diet and exercise habits, the results of the survey suggest that our approach should be useful for improving health.