This paper aimed to clarify the association of mid-adolescent dietary practices and experiences with adult eating behavior and attitudes using individual data from the “Survey of Attitudes toward Shokuiku (food and nutrition education), 2019” put forth by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. We applied conditional mixed-process models to estimate the parameters simultaneously, and used them to predict current eating consciousness, current eating behaviors in a balanced diet, dietary behavior, and attitudes toward preventing or improving lifestyle-related diseases as dependent variables. As a result, compared to those who did not have good dietary practices and experiences in mid-adolescence, participants who had good dietary practices and experiences in the same period displayed greater interest in practicing a healthier diet. These participants frequently consumed a combination of staple foods, main dishes, and side dishes, and were more concerned about preventing or improving lifestyle-related diseases. In conclusion, mid-adolescent dietary practices and experiences had a lasting influence on adult eating behaviors and attitudes in Japanese participants.

To the best of our knowledge, changes in mothers’ dietary behaviors or perceptions of dietary intake during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been extensively discussed. Therefore, the present study aimed to clarify how the dietary behaviors of mothers living with their children changed during the pandemic in Japan. Ordered probit and interval regressions were applied to individual data for mothers living with children under 18 years of age from five independently conducted Surveys of Attitudes toward Food and Nutrition Education (Shokuiku in Japanese). The estimation results showed that although mothers were more likely to eat dinner with their families during the pandemic, attention to healthy dietary practices, frequency of eating nutritionally balanced food, and dietary practices for preventing lifestyle-related diseases were negatively affected by the pandemic. In conclusion, mothers were more likely to decrease their commitment to a healthy and well-balanced diet during the pandemic than before it. Further research based on the latest datasets with detailed information over the long-term is required.

Background/Objectives: In Japan, single mothers face a high risk of poverty and poorer dietary quality than partnered mothers; however, the pathways underlying these disparities remain unclear. This study examined whether economic status mediates the association between family structure and maternal dietary behaviors and whether intergenerational co-residence modifies these pathways. Methods: Using nationally representative repeated cross-sectional survey data from 2018 to 2022 (N = 1319 mothers), we conducted path analysis of dietary awareness and behaviors. Family structure was classified as partnered mothers (reference), single mothers not co-residing with grandparents, and single mothers co-residing with grandparents. Economic status and frequency of shared family dinners were modeled as mediators. Results: Compared with partnered mothers, both groups of single mothers showed poorer economic conditions, with greater disadvantage among those not co-residing with grandparents. Economic conditions accounted for substantial disparities in multiple dietary outcomes. Shared family dinners were positively associated with several dietary behaviors; however, dinner frequency did not differ significantly between partnered and single mothers or between single mothers with and without grandparental co-residence. Single mothers not co-residing with grandparents showed residual direct disadvantages in nutritionally balanced meals, breakfast frequency, and healthy dietary awareness, whereas those co-residing with grandparents showed weaker disadvantages. Conclusions: Dietary vulnerability among single mothers in Japan was strongly associated with economic disadvantage, but not poverty alone. Intergenerational co-residence was associated with weaker disadvantage rather than eliminating it. Policies should combine income support with childcare assistance and low-burden Shokuiku or community-based meal support to strengthen resource capacity and daily healthy eating routines.