[Dietary and life-style characteristics and physical condition of school children]

Dietary and life-style characteristics and the presence of 13 subjective symptoms were surveyed by a questionnaire in 2869 school children, 9 and 11 years old, in urban and rural districts in Kyoto Prefecture. 1. School children in the urban districts consumed a greater variety of foods than those in the rural districts, with the 9 years old having a greater variety than the 11 years old. 2. There appeared to be no difference in the number of subjective symptoms between the two districts. The 11 years old children complained of more subjective symptoms than the 9 years old. 3. Children consuming less varieties of foods or with undesirable dietary and life-style characteristics generally complained of many subjective symptoms. The obese children seemed to take juice, instant-foods, meats, foods cooked with oil more frequently than the non-obese children. From these results, the need for desirable dietary and life-style characteristics for maintaining school children in the good physical condition is apparent.