PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF NCDs in Japan - New era for total approaches towards healthier eating and physical activity

Although Japanese have enjoyed the world’s longest life expectancy in these years, the social burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including expanding cost of medical and nursing care especially for the elderly people, has become a huge problem in the country. To extend the healthy life expectancy and improve quality of life (QOL) in Japanese people, the government started the health promotion initiative named Health Japan 21 from 2000. The target issues of the initiative include healthier lifestyle relevant to diet, physical activity, stress control and rest, dental behaviors, smoking and alcohol, and also risk reduction for NCDs (cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, dental diseases and cancers).

Midterm evaluation of the initiative is now undertaken both at national and local levels. The preliminary results suggest the increased prevalence of overweight and obesity in middle-aged men, and decreased number of steps per day in all age-groups. Although average salt intake in adults has been gradually decreasing, vegetable consumption has not increased in the last five years.

To establish more effective strategies to change health-related behaviors, the government has just developed the new food guide and exercise guide which are more user-friendly than the previous ones. The new simple and easily understandable guides will be widely disseminated this year, both for high-risk and population approaches. As high-risk approaches, more effective and efficient systems of health check-up and education service provided by the bodies for health insurance will be totally reformed within a couple of years, utilizing such diet and exercise guides and relevant education materials. On the other hand, more emphases have been placed on the environmental approach to change attitude and behaviors both in consumers and food industries to achieve healthier eating of all the people.

One of our big challenges is how to innovate on the existing conventional mind regarding health and nutrition education among health professionals including dietitians, to make their approaches fit the current situations and needs we actually face.

 

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