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This paper aims to investigate the relationship between locomotive syndrome (LS) and insufficient nutrient intake in young and middle-aged adults, independent of energy intake.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of a non-random sample of 219 adults aged 18 to 64 (175 men and 44 women) working in two companies in Japan, between December 2018 and March 2019. LS Stage 0 was classified as No-LS while Stages 1 and 2 were classified as LS. Nutrient intake was assessed using a brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire and adjusted to the required energy intake for each participant. The criteria for sufficient intake of 22 nutrients were based on the Dietary Reference Intake for Japanese. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between LS and insufficient nutrient intake.

In total, 234 employees participated in the LS examinations while 219 of them completed the questionnaire giving a response rate of 93.6%. LS Stages 1 or 2 were present in both men and women in all the age-stratified groups except for the women in their 60s. There was a significant association between LS status and insufficient intake of Vitamin K (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 16.0 [range: 1.1–407]; p = 0.01) in women, but not in men.

The result suggests that attention should be paid to adequate Vitamin K intake in young and middle-aged women with LS. Future studies should be conducted using a larger and more diverse sample.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present paper is the first study to show an association between LS in young and middle-aged adults and nutrients that are independent of energy intake.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention to increase vegetable consumption by university students.

This study is an open, parallel randomized controlled trial for 25 weeks. University students aged 18-24 years were divided into an intervention group (n=52) and a control group (n=52). Vegetable intake was assessed using a questionnaire.

On investigation, the results indicated that the vegetable intake of the intervention group was well maintained at the end of the study, whereas that of the control group was significantly decreased by the seasonal change. This research showed that using three educational projects could significantly improve the vegetable consumption of university students.

These results suggest that the educational approach is a promising method to improve the vegetable consumption status, particularly the consumption of green and yellow vegetables, by university students.

This parallel randomized controlled study investigated intervention via educational approaches, including a lecture on the nutritional significance of vegetable intake, a tour of an agricultural farm, and learning of cooking skills, focusing on increasing the consumption of vegetables by university students. Although there have been many intervention studies aimed at improving intake of vegetables in the world, there have been no intervention studies on the vegetable intake of young adults in Japan.