Hitomi Takeuchi, Mizuka Nakao, Wataru Kurose, Takahiro Kawada, Teruki Noji, Miyo Nakade, Fujiko Tsuji, Mirada Krejci, Tetsuo Harada, Intervention Study to Improve Meal Habit, Sleep Habit, Circadian Typology And School Marks in Japanese Elementary School Students, Journal of Sleep And Sleep Disorder Research, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2017, Pages 42-54, ISSN 2574-4518, https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2574-4518.jsdr-16-1413.
(https://www.ijn-medicalarticles.info/sleep-and-sleep-disorder-research/article/intervention-study-to-improve-meal-habit-sleep-habit-circadian-typology-and-school-marks-in-japanese-elementary-school-students-516)
Abstract: Purpose: An intervention program called “Super Meal Education Program” was supported by the Japanese Ministry of Arts, Sports, Sciences and Education. This program was implemented to improve meal habit and sleep habit and also to improve academic marks at school by Japanese compulsory school students. The effects of the intervention were evaluated by comparing an integrated questionnaire study held both before and after the intervention of a half year. Method: The intervention program consists of a lecture on sleep health and diurnal rhythms of children by a university professor, a series of lectures and practical classes by elementary school teachers on foods which can be collected nearby, and also practical courses as excursions to learn traditional meals and several foods resources which are products nearby. An integrated questionnaire study and also a government official academic achievement test were performed before and after the intervention 6 months in May and November, 2015. An integrated questionnaire was administrated to elementary school students of grades 1 to 6 (7-12 years old). For the younger students aged 6-9 years old, parents (mostly mothers) answered the questionnaire instead of their children. The integrated questionnaire included questions on the diurnal type scale (DTS), sleep habits, meal habits, and other questions on their environments and habits. Result: The rate of answer to the questionnaire was more than 95% and the number of data was 295 before and 286 after the intervention. In the histogram on distribution of the diurnal type scale scores (DTS) before intervention, 25 % of evening-typed students significantly shifted to significantly more morning-typed persons after that (p<0.001). There was significantly negative correlation between DTS scores before intervention and the amount of increased change in DTS during the intervention period (r=-390, r<0.001). For all students in the elementary school, there were no significant changes in sleep quality, bedtime in weekdays, wake up time and sleep hours before and after the intervention period. There was negative correlation between sleep hours in weekday before intervention and increased amount in sleep hours before and after that (r=-0.545, p<0.001). The longer the sleep hours become during intervention, the better the academic achievement mark was after the intervention (students in the second, third and fifth grades: r=0.369, p<0.01) in mathematics mark. Conclusion: At least for the students who had been originally evening-typed, the intervention on meal habits may be effective for longer sleep hours and improved school achievement marking.
Keywords: Academic Achievement; Sleep Habits; Circadian Typology; Meal Habits; Elementary School Students; School Intervention