[Special Feature: The Future of Japanese "Food"] Yuka Honda: The Future of Children is Created by Women's Diet

As a former researcher for a health equipment manufacturer, I am currently engaged in health information science research as a university researcher. Using IoT (Internet of Things) technology, I am researching the "construction of a health information platform," a system that "visualizes" people's health status and "extracts health issues" to quickly deliver necessary health information to those who need it. Are you aware that the number of low birth weight infants (less than 2,500g) has been increasing in Japan in recent years? *1 (Figure 1).

Reports suggest that the background to this includes medical progress (increase in the proportion of preterm infants), an increase in multiple pregnancies, and smoking, but a major reason is also the problem of insufficient energy intake and malnutrition due to Japanese women's desire to be thin and their slim-oriented mindset *2. Furthermore, in the perinatal field, the concept of "DOHaD (Developmental Origins of Health and Disease)" has been proposed, and it has become clear that the diet and lifestyle habits of women before and during pregnancy affect the fetus and increase the child's risk of lifestyle-related diseases in the future. In Japan, where efforts are often focused on health support and care for the elderly in the era of the 100-year life, it can sometimes be difficult to advance research that shines a light on the health issues of young women who have no subjective symptoms. However, the children born from now on are the generation that will support society 30 and 50 years into the future. By utilizing IoT and AI technology to "visualize" the nutritional status and eating behavior of young women and providing necessary health information when needed, there is a possibility of preventing low birth weight infants. Although it is a major challenge, I believe it is necessary to continue challenging ourselves without giving up, based on the Keio University spirit of "Jigisakuko" (creating one's own path).

Globally, the expansion of the "double burden of malnutrition," where undernutrition and overnutrition coexist, has become a major problem. While the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this issue, it has also been reported that "eating disorders" among young women are rapidly increasing in Japan *3. Thinness in young women can affect the risk of increased diabetes, infertility, and bone loss, in addition to the risk of giving birth to low birth weight infants. Since early "thinness countermeasures" will lead to a reduction in medical costs in the future, several developed countries have established social and political regulations regarding "thinness" in young women since around 2000. On the other hand, there are no such regulations in Japan (Figure 2), and thin women are still celebrated in the media as the standard of beauty.

In view of this situation, last year we conducted a "Web survey on ideal physique, lifestyle habits, and menstrual status by physique among young women (364 participants; 31.4 ± 6.0 years old)" *4. As a result of the analysis, it became clear that the "ideal weight" of young women is on average 4.1 kg lower than their actual weight, and that the "proportion of young women aiming for a thin physique" is about 90% in the BMI underweight group and about 30% in the BMI normal group. In order to change the current concept of beauty that "being thin is beautiful" to the concept that "a healthy normal physique is cool," I believe it is necessary to promote regulations on overly thin models, education and awareness for maintaining a normal weight, improvement of lifestyle habits, and the promotion and dissemination of preconception care (pre-pregnancy health management) from pre-adolescence.

At the Health Information Consortium of the Keio Research Institute at SFC, to which I belong, we launched a food and nutrition research and awareness team called the "Nijiiro (Rainbow-colored) Shokuiku School" in June 2021. Here, we are developing programs and tools using "Nijiiro (7 colors)" to convey the mechanisms of "nutrition" in a scientifically easy-to-understand and fun way (Figure 3).

In the "Basics of Food Education" seminar, instructors who are scientists provide easy-to-understand explanations on how the human body is made of food and how humans need to intake appropriate amounts of nutrients from meals to live (Figure 4). It has been well-received by participants as being very easy to understand and fun to learn, with approximately 400 people participating during the six months of the COVID-19 pandemic *5.

Furthermore, in the future, we will also work on measures to improve "excessive salt intake," which has become an issue in the with-COVID society. Currently, with the cooperation of food companies, we are preparing a salt-reduction experiential food education science program for children and women (mothers) (led by the Committee for Improving Children's Taste Perception), which is scheduled for implementation in fiscal 2022 (Figure 5).

Regarding the food and nutrition research activities we are advancing, we issued a commitment at the official side event hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries during the UN Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit held in December 2021. Specifically, we declared that by 2030, we will work to improve the nutrition of young women and children by developing nutritional status visualization and educational awareness programs through "ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) food education awareness activities utilizing ICT through industry-academia-government-citizen collaboration." Aiming to realize a healthy society where all people have knowledge about food and nutrition at the necessary time and can prevent diseases through their own will and choices through these activities contributes to "Goal 2 (Zero Hunger)," "3 (Good Health and Well-being)," "4 (Quality Education)," and "5 (Gender Equality)" of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We will continue to actively proceed with the support and cooperation of various companies. Please look forward to our ESD food education awareness activities with "Nijiiro" as the keyword.

*2 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, e-Health Net "Nutritional Problems Caused by 'Thinness' and Excessive Dieting in Young Women" (Accessed January 7, 2022)

*3 National Center for Child Health and Development "Survey on the State of Children's Minds during the COVID-19 Pandemic: 'Anorexia Nervosa' Eating Disorders Increased by 1.6 Times" (Accessed January 7, 2022)

*5 Keio University Health Information Consortium, Keio Research Institute at SFC "1st Nijiiro Shokuiku School Event Report" (Accessed January 7, 2022)