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Michiyo HASHIMOTO1, Midori NISHIYAMA1, Kimihiro NAKAEI1, and Tsuyako NODA2The modern Japanese society has become a very difficult environment for adolescents in which to maintain their optimal physical and mental health. Lifestyle in particular is said to reflect not only health, but also psychological well-being including the level of anxiety in adolescents. To investigate the relationship between lifestyle and anxiety in adolescent females, 475 junior high school students at a private women's school in Kanagawa Prefecture participated in this study in April, 1999. A questionnaire was distributed, and physical measurements were taken for all subjects. The percentage of body fat was also measured using a Tanita TBF-310machine. In addition, the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS), Japanese Version, was used for assessing the anxiety level of students. The data was analyzed with SPSS 9.0 for Windows, and 413 subjects (mean age =13.57 years) with valid and reliable CMAS scores were selected for analyses.As a result, there were significant differences in menarche rate, Body Mass Index (BMI), and the percentage of body fat by grade level. However, no difference in CMAS score by grade was observed. Fewer hours of sleep per night, having no late meal, eating breakfast alone, and having a large appetite were increased as the grade level increased. In addition, subjects were divided into 3 groups (low, moderate, and high anxiety) by the CMAS total score. The high anxiety group reported symptoms of diarrhea more than other groups. In terms of health practices and eating habits, difficulty in waking up and sleeping well, few hours of sleep per night, getting up at irregular times, skipping breakfast, and not enjoying meals were associated with the high anxiety group. Few hours of sleep, having no late meal, and skipping breakfast were also seen in students with high BMI. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the length of sleep per night, presence of diarrhea symptoms, and difficulty in waking up were predictors of the total CMAS score of subjects.In summary, the level of anxiety in adolescent girls showed a significant correlation with unhealthy lifestyles including health practices and eating habits. These findings suggested that an appropriate health education program for a healthy lifestyle could help maintain optimal mental health in adolescent females.

To investigate actual conditions and frequency of food intake,a questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate students at Sagami Women's University.Subjects were 367 students including 186 majoring an administrative dietician and 181 majoring life science studies.Major findings are as follows:1.The subjects in dietician major(60.3%)had scheduled breakfast times higher rate(p<0.01).Moreover,72.6% of dietician major students had scheduled lunchtime higher rate(p<0.05).2.Ratio of no breakfast showed 25.4% in life science department major students(p <0.01).Likewise,life science department major students skipped lunch showed high 17.6%(p<0.05).3.While breakfast was important for subjects in dietician major(22.6%),dinner was in life science department major students(72.4%)(p<0.05).4.Ratio of frequency of snacking between meals was high in dietician major(59.9%) (p<0.05).On the other hand,16.6% of life science major students had more snacks after dinner(p<0.05).5.All subjects reported to have either rice or bread(approximately 50% for each)in the morning.While 66.2% of the subjects in dietician majors had lunch menu with rice than those in other majors(p<0.05),more than 90% of all subjects had dinner with rice.6.All subjects not exist difference regarding with taste of meals,enjoyment of having meals,appetite and satisfaction of meals.As for interest degree of dietary environment, significant difference was recognized highly in dietician majors.7.In frequency of diet terms,dietician majors show high light-green(p<0.001)and green-yellow vegetables,beans,soybean products,milk,daily products(p<0.01)and mushrooms(p<0.05).In addition,life science majors had candies and sweets(p< 0.001).

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