In Japan, dietary habits have greatly changed since the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak; we examined factors related to dietary changes. An online cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in November 2020 among 6000 Japanese adults (aged 20–64 years) registered with a research company and gathered data on demographics, socioeconomic factors, medical history, COVID-19 status of the respondent’s family and neighbors, fear of COVID-19, and changes in lifestyle and dietary habits since the COVID-19 outbreak. To the question “Have you made healthier changes to your dietary habits compared with the dietary habits before the spread of COVID-19 (1 year ago, November 2019)?”, 1215 (20.3%), 491 (8.2%), and 4294 (71.6%) participants answered that their dietary habits were healthier, unhealthier, and unchanged, respectively. Healthier and unhealthier dietary habits were associated with greater fear of COVID-19, altered exercise and sleep times, and smoking. Unhealthy habits were positively associated with living alone, decreasing household income, colleagues with COVID-19, stress, and weight loss/gain. Annual household income, changing household income, COVID-19 in friends, health literacy, exercise frequency, weight loss, and starting smoking were positively associated with healthier dietary changes. The generalizability of these results and strategies to inculcate healthy diets in this “new normal” should be investigated.

The purpose of this research was to qualitatively explore factors influencing the food safety culture in school meal services from the perspective of school food handlers (i.e., cooks, dietitians). Six in-depth, semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with of school food handlers (n = 32). Thematic analysis was used to extract meaning from the data. Findings demonstrated that the following multi-level factors influenced the food safety culture of school meal services: (1) individual; (2) organization; (3) environment; (4) management; and (5) management style. These factors may be useful for effectively and strategically improving the food safety culture for food handlers in school meal services.

Background: The lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused several lifestyle changes. Aim: This scoping review aimed to report the present status of studies conducted on changes and factors related to food and drink consumption worldwide. Methods: Searches were performed in PubMed and EBSCO between August 6 and August 22, 2020 using the following criteria: (1) studies reporting changes in the current individual consumption of specific foods and snacks compared to that before the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) participants aged 18 years or older and without any diagnosable disease; and (3) articles that are peer-reviewed publications available in English. Studies were excluded if they involved an intervention related to diet or investigated the change in COVID-19 incidence. Results: Twelve articles were included in this review. The included studies revealed that there were various changes in food and drink consumption, such as the frequency and amount of consumption of snacks (n = 9), alcohol (n = 7), and vegetables and fruits (n = 5). These changes showed both increasing and decreasing trends. Of the 12 studies, 10 reported factors related to dietary changes, such as age, body mass index, psychological conditions, and residence; however, most of the results regarding these factors were inconsistent. Conclusions: Future studies should investigate long-term dietary changes and examine the factors that influence these changes to determine the pandemic's long-term impact.

Objective: Portion sizes and bowl sizes may be related to food intake and perceived fullness. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of portion size and bowl size and possible interactions between these variables on food intake and fullness in a sample of Japanese men.Design: Participants ate four different experimental meals across four weeks and completed questionnaires about their fullness using a visual analogue scale administered before and after meals. The four meal patterns included consistent portions of several foods commonly eaten together in typical Japanese meals, along with 150 g of rice served in a small rice bowl (diameter of 11·5 cm), 150 g of rice served in a large rice bowl (diameter of 13·5 cm), 250 g of rice served in a small rice bowl or 250 g of rice served in a large rice bowl.Setting: Tokyo.Subject: Twenty-one adult men participated in the study.Results: Portion size had a significant main effect on rice intake (F_(1,20)=83, P<0·001) and fullness (F_(1,20)=8·0, P=0·010), but no significant effects of bowl size on the outcome variables were found. The interactions between portion size and bowl size on intake and fullness were not significant.Conclusions: The sample of Japanese men showed an influence of portion size on food intake. Further research is needed to clarify the combined effects of bowl size and portion size on intake and fullness.

【目的】野菜摂取を促す栄養教育では，実生活に近い具体的な情報が求められる。そこで，具体的な食事内容について提案するために，男性勤労者を野菜摂取量で3つの群に分け，群ごとの食事内容を料理レベルで比較検討した。 【方法】2009年2月，輸送業社営業所の従業員160名を対象に，自己記入式質問紙調査と3日間の食事記録調査を行った。質問紙では，属性，体格，活動量についてたずねた。3日間の食事記録を用いて1日あたりの野菜摂取量，エネルギー摂取量の平均値を算出し，1,000 kcalあたりの野菜摂取量，栄養素量を算出した。さらに食事バランスガイドを用いてサービング（SV）数や料理の出現回数を数え，それぞれの料理の出現割合を求めた。1日あたりの野菜摂取量の25％，75％タイル値を用いて，野菜摂取量のG1群，G2群，G3群の3群に分け，栄養素量や料理の出現割合（％）を比較した。 【結果】解析対象者は115名（回答者142名，有効回答率81.0％）だった。年齢の中央値（25％，75％タイル値）は35（31，39）歳で，野菜摂取量は 194（122，256）g/日だった。G3群は他の群と比べてエネルギー摂取量，1,000 kcalあたりの野菜摂取量が最も高かった。各群の料理の出現割合をみると，G1群では鶏から揚げ（11.1％），G3群では焼き魚（6.4％）や納豆（6.0％）が高かった。副菜に限定すると，G1群ではフライドポテト（5.4％）の出現割合が高く，G3群ではお浸し・ごま和え（4.1％）が高かった。また，G3群では，副菜を含む複合料理の出現割合が高かった。 【結論】野菜摂取量の多い男性勤労者は，サラダやお浸しなどの野菜料理やカレーなどの副菜を含む複合料理を食べており，これらの料理が野菜摂取量と関連することが示唆された。