Overview of Municipal Plans for the Promotion of Shokuiku and Analysis of Target Items in Hiroshima Prefecture

This study aimed to investigate and tabulate the outlines and target items of the plans for the promotion of Shokuiku （food and nutrition education） of all the 23 municipalities in Hiroshima Prefecture, and to provide useful information for the formulation and revision of future municipal plans for the promotion of Shokuiku to promote effective nutrition education activities. 1. The most common planning period was 5 years, followed by 6 years and 10 years. As for the positioning of the plans, 8 municipalities had only a Shokuiku promotion plan, while the others were prepared together with a health promotion plan or a suicide prevention plan. The most common department to prepare the plan was the Department of Health, Welfare, and Wellness and 21 had descriptions of the preparatory committee. The number of members of the preparatory committee（ mean ± standard deviation）was 20.2 ± 12.6, of which 5.5 ± 4.0 were municipal employees, 5.1 ± 3.6 were health promotion representatives, and 4.9 ± 6.2 were resident representatives. Surveys of residents were conducted in all the municipalities, using survey methods by 10 municipalities. 2. Words were derived about basic concepts and the number of municipalities using each word was tallied, revealing that the most common words used were “city/town/island,” followed by “food,” “health,” and “affluent.” Key phrases were extracted from “Aspirations” in the Third Hiroshima Prefecture Shokuiku promotion plan, tallying with the municipal Shokuiku promotion plans that use them. The results revealed that the key phrases from highest to lowest were “extending healthy life expectancy,” “the environment surrounding food,” “healthy diet,” and “traditional local food culture.” 3. The number of target items （mean ± standard deviation） was 13.7 ± 7.1 items, 30.7% of which were identical with the Third Hiroshima Prefecture Shokuiku promotion plan, 28.0% were similar, and 31.6% were unique to the municipality. Investigating setting of targets in municipal plans according to the target items of the Third Hiroshima Prefecture Shokuiku promotion plan indicated that the items identical or similar were “increasing the number of people eating breakfast or dinner with their family,” “increasing the number of people eating breakfast every day,” “increasing the number of people eating a combination of staple food, main dish, and side dishes at least twice a day,” and “increasing the number of people consciously purchasing agricultural products from the prefecture.”