Hideyuki Kanda

There are no legal regulations in Japan governing minors’ consumption of alcohol-flavoured non-alcoholic beverages (AFNAB); therefore, we examined if their consumption could lead to increased alcohol use among adolescents in Japan. This cross-sectional study used a nonclinical, nationally representative sample of 38,494 junior (19,662 boys) and 61,556 senior (31,925 boys) high school students recruited in 2012. We measured AFNAB consumption rates and the order that adolescents first consumed AFNAB and alcohol. The AFNAB consumption was strongly associated with alcohol use in high school students. Among all age groups, alcohol was more commonly consumed before AFNAB for both males and females. Consumption of AFNAB is more prevalent among minors than alcohol consumption and it has a strong association with alcohol consumption. However, concerns that AFNAB use would lead to increased alcohol use were not supported because AFNAB consumption usually started after adolescents began consuming alcohol. Consumption of AFNAB is more prevalent among high school students than alcohol consumption and it has a strong association with alcohol consumption. However, concerns that AFNAB use would lead to increased alcohol use were not supported because AFNAB consumption usually started after adolescents began consuming alcohol.

Background The nuclear power plant accidents in Fukushima resulted in a widespread release of radioactive substances in the Fukushima prefecture. Aim To clarify what factors led to precautions among general workers who displayed preventive behaviours against radiation following the nuclear disasters in Fukushima. Methods Descriptive study of preventive behaviours among general workers 3–5 months following the nuclear disasters. The subjects were 1394 regular workers who took part in radiation seminars conducted by the Fukushima Occupational Health Promotion Center between July and August 2011. Of 1217 responses, 1110 eligible responses were included in this study. This anonymous questionnaire survey was asking for characteristics and questions on preventive behaviours following the nuclear disasters. The authors assessed the contribution of each variable by a logistic regression analysis. Results Keeping track of environmental radiation levels and washing hands and gargling were significantly more frequent among female subjects, older age and workers residing up to approximately 80 km away from the power plants. Washing hands and gargling were also related with living with children. Wearing a mask when leaving home and buying bottled water were significantly more often observed with female subjects and workers residing up to 80 km. Refraining from going outdoors was positively associated with workers residing up to 80 km and workers living with children. Conclusions These results provide information that may help with the targeting of health information after a nuclear disaster. This may contribute to determining an order of priority when distributing information after a nuclear disaster.

The World Health Organization (WHO) includes insulin resistance among its criteria for diagnosing metabolic syndrome (MetS); however, previous epidemiologic studies have limited their research to settled populations only. This study aims to clarify the relationship between plasma insulin and metabolic factors on a broader scale by studying data obtained from nomadic and settled Mongolian populations.

Background Proper age verification can prevent minors from accessing tobacco products. For this reason, electronic locking devices based on a proof-of age system utilising cards were installed in almost every tobacco vending machine across Japan and Germany to restrict sales to minors. Objective We aimed to clarify the associations between amount smoked by high school students and the usage of age verification cards by conducting a nationwide cross-sectional survey of students in Japan. Methods This survey was conducted in 2008. We asked high school students, aged 13–18 years, in Japan about their smoking behaviour, where they purchase cigarettes, if or if not they have used age verification cards, and if yes, how they obtained this card. Results As the amount smoked increased, the prevalence of purchasing cigarettes from vending machines also rose for both males and females. The percentage of those with experience of using an age verification card was also higher among those who smoked more. Somebody outside of family was the top source of obtaining cards. Surprisingly, around 5% of males and females belonging to the group with highest smoking levels applied for cards themselves. Conclusions Age verification cards cannot fully prevent minors from accessing tobacco products. These findings suggest that a total ban of tobacco vending machines, not an age verification system, is needed to prevent sales to minors.

In this study we investigated the attitudes of Japanese medical students toward being informed of a diagnosis of life-threatening illness. Fourth-year medical students from 20 randomly sampled universities were administered questionnaires that examined their opinion about whether they would welcome disclosure of medical information if they were diagnosed as having an ultimately fatal disease. Data from 1,619 students (male 1,074, female 545, effective collection rate 90.6%) were analyzed. With regard to attitudes about disclosure of a diagnosis of life-threatening illness, 87.7% of the students stated that they would wish to be informed even if there was little chance of recovery, and 11.6% expressed a wish to be informed of their condition only if there was a chance of recovery. Students who did not wish to be informed even if there was a chance of recovery accounted for 0.7% of those surveyed. Our study reveals that medical students are more positive than are members of the general population with regard to being informed of the truth. The proportion of those who wished to be informed even if there was little chance of recovery was higher among students from national and public universities than among those from private universities, and the inter-group difference was statistically significant. Among male students, answers to the survey were significantly correlated with 12-item General Health Questionnaire scores and mental health status, suggesting that mental health status may have affected how this study population viewed being informed of their diagnosis.

We conducted three national surveys to clarify the drinking status of Japanese junior and senior high school students in 1996, 2000 and 2004. The total numbers of subjects in each survey were about 50 thousands junior high school students and 70 thousands senior high school students. The present study compares drinking status and alcohol related problems of the subjects of the three surveys. The results were as follows. First, drinking experiences of the subjects decreased over the three surveys. Those of junior high school students dropped from 60% to 40%, and those of senior high school students from 75% to 60%. Second, drinking behavior of the subjects has changed, e.g., the amount of drinking on each occasion has decreased, failures due to drunkenness have also decreased, compliance with the Law Prohibiting Minors Drinking has increased, their buying alcoholic drinks has decreased and experiences of being offered alcohol by parents have decreased. Third, male problem drinkers among the subjects decreased slightly but female problem drinkers did not decrease. We discussed the reasons why Japanese adolescent drinking has decreased. Over the past 10 years, Japanese society started to prohibit adolescent drinking, by revising the Law Prohibiting Minors Drinking, penalties for driving while intoxicated became more severe and Japanese alcohol consumption started to decrease.