Dietary Amino Acid Composition and Glycemic Biomarkers in Japanese Adolescents.

Protein intake reportedly increases the risk of diabetes; however, the results have been inconsistent. Diabetes in adulthood may be attributed to early life dietary amino acid composition. This study aimed to investigate the association between amino acid composition and glycemic biomarkers in adolescents.

Adherence to the Japanese Food Guide: The Association between Three Scoring Systems and Cardiometabolic Risks in Japanese Adolescents.

The Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top (JFGST) indicates optimal intake of five food groups (grain, fish and meat, vegetables, milk, and fruits) and sugar and confectionaries. We aimed to investigate whether adherence to the JFGST in 8th grade junior high school students ( = 3162) was associated with cardiometabolic risks and how different scorings of the JFGST influenced the associations. Metabolic risks were assessed from anthropometrics, blood pressure measurements, and blood glucose and lipid profile measurements.

Assessment of Foods Associated with Sodium and Potassium Intake in Japanese Youths Using the Brief-Type Self-Administered Diet History Questionnaire.

The identification of sodium and potassium intake in youths is an important step to preventing the increase of blood pressure in childhood. We examined food intake and estimated mineral intake using a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire (BDHQ) to test its validity as a comparison with urinary excretion in Japanese youths. The subjects were 5th and 8th graders ( = 2377), who completed the BDHQ and permitted the use of their overnight urine specimens.

Composition of Dietary Fatty Acids and Health Risks in Japanese Youths.

In the overall composition of dietary fatty acids (FAs), the quantity of each FA is interrelated with that of others. We examined the associations between dietary FA composition and cardiometabolic risk in Japanese youths. Risk factors (anthropometric characteristics, serum lipid and liver enzyme levels, and blood pressure) were measured in 5485 junior-high-school students.

Estimation of daily sodium and potassium excretion from overnight urine of Japanese children and adolescents.

Background: Estimates of daily sodium (Na) and potassium (K) excretion were explicitly biased when using equations for adults. We aimed to develop equations to estimate them using overnight urine from Japanese children and adolescents.

Methods: The subjects comprised 70 students aged 10.

Added and Free Sugars Intake and Metabolic Biomarkers in Japanese Adolescents.

Reduction in the intakes of added and free sugars is a recommendation to lower cardiometabolic risks. Sugars intake is considered lowest in the Asian-Pacific region, particularly Japan. We examined the association between sugars intake and cardiometabolic risks in Japanese adolescents.

Proportion of Japanese primary school children meeting recommendations for 24-h movement guidelines and associations with weight status.

Background: 24-h movement guidelines were recently developed to improve both the present and future health of children. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate adherence to the three recommendations strongly associated with health in 24-h movement guidelines and their relationship with weight status (overweight/obesity or underweight) in Japanese primary school children.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on 902 children.

Association between 24-hour movement guidelines and physical fitness in children.

Background: Physical fitness levels in Japanese children are lower than those in the 1980s. Twenty-four hour movement guidelines were recently developed to improve both present and future health of children. This study examined whether meeting the 24 h movement guidelines was associated with physical fitness measures in primary school children.

Gender differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior of Japanese primary school children during school cleaning time, morning recess and lunch recess.

Background: The school environment provides crucial opportunities for children to engage in health-promoting physical activity (PA). Japanese children clean their schools and have recess time every school day. The primary aim of the study is to describe the levels of physical activity during school cleaning and recess time while comparing it between genders.

The Relationship between Functional Constipation and Dietary Habits in School-Age Japanese Children.

Functional constipation negatively affects school-related quality of life for children and adolescents. We investigated the association between functional constipation, defined according to the Rome criteria version III, and dietary habits. The subjects of this cross-sectional study were 1,140 5th graders and 1,054 8th graders attending schools in Shunan City, Japan in 2012.

Protein Intake Estimated from Brief-Type Self-Administered Diet History Questionnaire and Urinary Urea Nitrogen Level in Adolescents.

Our aim was to assess the validity of the brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire (BDHQ15y) to estimate the protein intake in 248 Japanese secondary school students (mean age = 14.2 years), using urinary biomarkers as references. Participants provided three samples of overnight urine for measurement of urea nitrogen and creatinine levels, underwent anthropometric measurements, and answered the questionnaires.

Association between age at onset of independent walking and objectively measured sedentary behavior is mediated by moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in primary school children.

Objective: Age at onset of walking has been shown as an early predictor of physical activity in infants and children. However, little is known about whether age at onset of walking may predict sedentary behavior (SB). The aim of the present study was to examine the association between the timing of onset of walking and objectively measured SB, and whether this association is mediated by moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in children.

Associations of Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Primary School Children with Their Parental Behaviors and Supports.

Background: The associations of objectively evaluated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time between primary school children and their fathers or mothers have not been fully understood. Therefore, we tested the associations in children. : The participants were first to sixth grade boys (n = 166, 9.

Variability in school children's activity occurs in the recess and before-school periods.

Background: An accurate description of physical activity (PA) at school is required for appropriate health interventions. We examined PA patterns in children, and identified the time periods that influenced them.

Methods: Forty students in five Japanese primary schools were asked to wear triaxial accelerometers for ≥7 days.

Physical activity modifies the FTO effect on body mass index change in Japanese adolescents.

Background: Evidence of the effects of fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) variation and long-term effects of physical activity (PA) on adiposity in adolescents is largely scarce. This study therefore investigated whether PA modulates the effects of the FTO on body mass index (BMI) changes in Japanese adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 years.

Methods: Data on 343 subjects (156 boys; 187 girls) who were enrolled in 2006 and 2007 at schools in Shunan City, Japan, were collected.

Placing Salt/Soy Sauce at Dining Tables and Out-Of-Home Behavior Are Related to Urinary Sodium Excretion in Japanese Secondary School Students.

We investigated whether home environment, salt knowledge, and salt-use behavior were associated with urinary sodium (Na) excretion in Japanese secondary school students. Students (267; mean age, 14.2 years) from Suo-Oshima, Japan, collected three overnight urine samples and completed a salt environment/knowledge/behavior questionnaire.

Association between objectively evaluated physical activity and sedentary behavior and screen time in primary school children.

Background: Even when meeting guidelines for physical activity (PA), considerable sedentary time may be included. This study in primary school children investigated the relationships between objectively evaluated sedentary and PA times at different intensities using triaxial accelerometry that discriminated between ambulatory and non-ambulatory PA. The relationships between subjectively evaluated screen time (i.

Twenty-four-hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion and associated factors in Japanese secondary school students.

Data on the sodium and potassium intake using dietary records among schoolchildren are sorely lacking in the Japanese literature. Some evidence indicates that sodium and potassium intake has been correctly measured, but information concerning these associated factors is scarce. The 24-h urine samples and first morning voiding (overnight) samples were collected twice from 68 secondary schoolchildren in Suo-Oshima Town, Japan.

Dietary Fiber Consumption Decreases the Risks of Overweight and Hypercholesterolemia in Japanese Children.

Aims: It remains inconclusive whether high dietary fiber intake decreases the risk of obesity, hypercholesterolemia or high blood pressure during childhood. Therefore, this study investigated the relationships of dietary fiber intake with weight status and related clinical parameters among Japanese children.

Methods: We analyzed the data of 5,600 subjects aged 10-11 years, between 2006 and 2010.

[Immune System Reaction against Environmental Pollutants].

Environmental pollutants (such as diesel exhaust particles and silica) cause disorders ranging from bronchial asthma to malignant tumors. In recent years, it has been reported that some of the signaling pathways in which environmental contaminants act in vivo are associated with innate immunity. Innate immunity recognizes ligands and induces inflammation.

Dietary Intake, FTO Genetic Variants, and Adiposity: A Combined Analysis of Over 16,000 Children and Adolescents.

The FTO gene harbors variation with the strongest effect on adiposity and obesity risk. Previous data support a role for FTO variation in influencing food intake. We conducted a combined analysis of 16,094 boys and girls aged 1-18 years from 14 studies to examine the following: 1) the association between the FTO rs9939609 variant (or a proxy) and total energy and macronutrient intake; and 2) the interaction between the FTO variant and dietary intake, and the effect on BMI.

Fat-mass and obesity-associated gene variant and changes of body mass index from ages 3 to 13 years.

Objective: The effect of the fat-mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene minor allele on the change of adiposity from childhood to adolescence among Asians remains unclear, and is expected to differ among the developmental stages from childhood to adolescence. We assessed the relationship between a FTO variant and changes in body mass index (BMI) between 3 and 13 years of age among Japanese.

Methods: Subjects were 66 fifth graders (37 boys, 29 girls) enrolled in 2006 from Shunan City, Japan, and genotyped (rs1558902).

The effects of fat mass and obesity-associated gene variants on the body mass index among ethnic groups and in children and adults.

Genome-wide association analyses have revealed common gene variations related to obesity. Variants of the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene among more than 40 genes studied were most closely associated with obesity, but the association varies among ethnicities. Moreover, the effect is significant in people of European descent as well as Asians, but less significant among people of African descent.

Psychosocial functioning and self-rated health in Japanese school-aged children: A cross-sectional study.

Emotional and behavioral disorders in children are school-health concerns; however, Japanese screening tools for such disorders are not yet available. We examined the association between psychosocial functioning as measured by the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) and self-rated health within school settings. A cross-sectional study was conducted for 2513 fifth and eighth graders from all of the primary and secondary schools in Shunan City, Japan.