Associations between Subjective Psychosomatic Symptoms and Dietary Intakes as well as Lifestyle Habits among Middle School Students: A Cross-sectional Survey in Miyazaki, Japan

Summary : This study examined the associations between subjective psychosomatic symptoms (SPS) and dietary intake, as well as lifestyle habits, among middle school students by analyzing the results of a cross-sectional survey. Between August 2016 and January 2017 , study participants from 12 middle schools ( n ＝1 , 625 , 813 boys and 812 girls, aged 12-14 years) were recruited from all eligible participants in M-city, Japan. The parents or guardians of the students provided informed consent. School nurses measured the students ʼ body weight and height. Two self-administered questionnaires were used: one to investigate dietary intake (FFQW 82 ) and the other to investigate lifestyle habits, health status, and SPS. The responses of 1 , 465 students were analyzed (response rate 90 . 2％ ). The results showed that daily energy intake (kcal) tended to be larger at dinner than at breakfast; the intake ratio of the 3 main meals, i.e. breakfast, lunch, and dinner, was 2 : 3 : 4 . This suggested that intake at breakfast was insufficient and that at dinner was excessive. Comparison of food groups showed that calorie intake in the meat group was more than double that in the fish and shellfish group, whereas intake in the vegetable group fell below the target value ( 350 g per day). Fewer than half of both boys and girls avoided intake of large amounts of fatty foods ( 34 . 9％ , 34 . 8％ ), and ate both the main dish ( 34 . 3％ , 29 . 9％ ) and vegetables ( 25 . 1％ , 24 . 2％ ) for breakfast. Application of regression models showed that the following factors were significantly associated with a low SPS score for both boys and girls: dietary intake of fiber ( p ＝0 . 011 , p ＜ 0 . 001 ), going to sleep before midnight ( p ＝0 . 006 , p ＜ 0 . 001 ), and sleeping 6 hours or more per day ( p ＜0 . 001 , p ＝0 . 018 ). Conversely, confectionaries/high sugar beverages were significantly associated with a high SPS score for boys and girls ( p ＜0 . 001 , p ＝0 . 001 ). Taken together, these findings suggest that SPS are associated with dietary intake and lifestyle habits in middle school students.