BackgroundA growing body of pieces of evidence suggests that sport activity is of potential importance both for physical and mental health. To date, there is a lack of information and evidence regarding the mental health of visually impaired people playing some extent of sports and recognized as athletes with renowned career track. The present study aims to clarify the mental health status and its related factors in visually impaired athletes.MethodsThe current study was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional investigation. Visually impaired athletes (n = 81; men: 72.8%; average age: 32.8 ± 12.0 years) engaged in Paralympic sports events namely track and field (marathon), goalball, swimming, blind soccer, and judo were the study subjects from leading institutions in Japan. A diverse range of issues were included in a questionnaire survey like attributes, condition of visual impairment, competition activities, competition stressors, social support, and mental health status (recorded through the K6 scale). Logistic regression analyses were performed with mental health status as a dependent variable and other studied parameters as independent variables.ResultsA total of 21.0% of study participants (11.9% of men and 45.5% of women) showed bad mental health condition. Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that “female” (odds ratio (OR) 11.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.60 - 54.76, P = 0.001), “higher evaluation from one’s surroundings for competition stressors” (OR 5.74, 95% CI 1.34 - 24.60, P = 0.019), and “lower social support from family members” (OR 3.97, 95% CI 1.03 - 15.25, P = 0.045) were the risk factors of bad mental health.ConclusionsThe mental health status among visually impaired athletes might be almost the same level as non-visually impaired athletes and general population, and have relation to gender, stress of evaluation from surroundings during competition, and social support from family members. It may be necessary to pay attention especially to women, and improve one’s surroundings of competition stressors and family social support to maintaining the mental health of visually impaired athletes.

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Objective This study investigates whether the working status of mothers results in an unbalanced diet no acceptance of disliked foods of their preschool children, and the relationship of the preschool children s unbalanced diet and its relevant factors.Methods This cross sectional study was conducted using the responses of 1,145 mothers at 15 public kindergartens in a suburban city located in the Kanto region. A self rating questionnaire examined mother s age and working, child s age and gender, the unbalanced diet of mother and their child, and eating education provided to child.Results The unbalanced diet of children were not associated with the working status of their mothers. Among non working mothers, the causal factors of the unbalanced diet of their children were classified as the unbalanced diet of the mother, neglecting to instruct child not to waste food, not giving to child s meal child disagreeable foods or weak foods. Among working mothers, not engaging their child to help in the preparation of meals was the most prominent cause of children s diet unbalances.Conclusion It was suggested that although the working status of mothers has no direct effect on the unbalanced diet of their childrens, differences in the factors relating to the unbalanced diet of their childrens depend on whether the mother is employed or unemployed.