世論 What Japan Thinks

At the start of July this year, MyVoice looked at food education. 12,489 members of their internet monitor group correctly responded to their survey. 46% of the sample was male, 3% in their teens, 21% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 25% in their forties, and 12% in their fifties.

Food education, or to use the Japanese term, 食育, shokuiku, is a term referring to the promotion of not just healthy eating, but all aspects of a sensible diet, from selecting the food through to enjoying the taste. Apparently last year there was even a law enacted, 食育基本法, shokuiki kihon hou, “Basic Law on Nutritional Education”, to allow such promotion to be carried out by local governments.

I’m not aware of an English version of the information on food education, but if anyone finds a good link, please feel free to mail me and I’ll update the post.

Q1: Do you know the term “food education”? (Sample size=12,489)

Know it well	13.3%
Know it in outline	39.0%
Don’t know the details, but heard the term	33.2%
Don’t know it at all	14.4%

Q2: Where did you learn about food education? (Sample size=those who know about food education, multiple answer)

Television or radio	66.6%
Newspaper	36.7%
Magazine	21.3%
Internet	15.5%
Book	9.6%
School	9.4%
Government-related source	5.9%
Friends	4.8%
Pamphlet or leaflet	4.2%
Family	3.3%
Symposium or study meeting	2.8%
E-mail magazine	2.6%
Poster	2.1%
Other	4.4%
No answer	6.5%

Q3: Are you interested in food education? (Sample size=those who know about food education)

Very interested	14.5%
Quite interested	46.7%
Can’t say either way	20.7%
Not very interested	8.1%
Not at all interested	1.8%
No answer	8.2%

Q4: Do you know about the “Food Education Balance Guide”? (Sample size=those who know about food education)

Know much about it, and put it into practise	2.4%
Know much about it, but not put it into practise	4.3%
Know about it in outline, and put it into practise	10.0%
Know about it in outline, but not put it into practise	14.3%
Don’t know much about it, but heard the term before	21.4%
Never heard the term before	47.6%

Q5: The following items appear in the Ministery of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ “Eating Habit Guidelines”. Select those that you think you are carrying out. (Sample size=12,489, multiple answer)

Ensure I eat rice and other grains	52.6%
Have enjoyable mealtimes	49.2%
Combine vegetables, fruit, milk, milk products, legumes, fish, etc	48.3%
Balance meals based around a main dish, a main vegetable, and side dishes	44.7%
Cut down on salt and fat, etc	39.1%
Set the rhythm for a healthy lifestyle through each day’s meals	34.8%
Store and prepare skillfully to reduce waste	25.7%
Eat appropriately for a sensible body weight and lifestyle	21.3%
Reform my eating habits	18.9%
Eat traditionally and locally, but also try something new now and again	12.5%
Couldn’t do any of these	12.1%
No answer	0.3%

Q6: What event do you think would give you a reason to consider putting into practice food education or the eating habits guidelines? (Sample size=12,489, multiple answer)

When pregnant or after birth	44.6%
When weight increased or other change to my body	42.0%
When ill or injured	39.6%
When I got married	30.4%
When children entered kindergarten or school	16.6%
When a psychological change happened	15.1%
When a change related to food safety occured	12.3%
When I could afford to change my lifestyle	12.2%
When I started living along	11.2%
When I started living with an old person	8.8%
When I couldn’t afford to maintain my lifestyle	8.6%
When foodstuff prices increased	6.6%
When foodstuff prices decreased	3.7%
When I stopped working	3.1%
When I started work	2.3%
When children left home	2.0%
When I moved house	1.6%
When I changed jobs	1.2%
When a law or government ordinance was enacted	1.1%
Other	2.0%
Nothing in particular or can’t remember	10.6%
No answer	0.3%