In view of the present situation of agriculture in which housewives have to handlethe bulk of farm work, a study was made on the health conditions of women engaged in farming in comparison with those of non-farmers.
The study covered a total of 28, 600 females, aged from 40 to 59, who received masshealth screenings conducted between 1978 and 1980 on rural inhabitants in Nagano Prefecture as part of the outreach program by the health service corps of our hospital.
All the examinees live in areas whose principal crops are rice, vegetables and/or fruits.
The data were arranged according to seasons based on the dates of health examination in order to clarify the seasonal variations of morbidity rates and other indices of health.
Another investigation was made into seasonal changes in the length of time used byhousewives in farming, domestic chores, rest and so on with a view to studying correlation between the mode of living and health conditions.
To sum up, our findings are as fllows:
(1) Seasonal variations in the results of various laboratory tests and morbidity rates were notable, depending on the amount of farm work, dietary habits, coldness and the height above sea level.
(2) During summer months, the incidence of anemia was exceedingly high, obesity rates plummeted, and serum cholinesterase values dropped sharply among housewives who are engaged in farm work, compared with those who are not.
(3) In summer, farm housewives worked long hours in the fields, slept less and rested less. They had not enough time to attend to household duties.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan is planning a pooling system for multiple-choice questions (MCQs) for the national examination for medical practitioners. To clarify possible problems of such a system, a field study was performed by 10 medical schools in Japan using 90 MCQs from previous examinations. Nine hundred twenty-four 6th-year students participated in the field test. For each MCQ, the correct-response rates at the originating school and those obtained in the field test were significantly correlated. Thus, the correct-response rates to questions on the field test could be predicted from the rates at the originating schools. However, for each question the correct-response rate was significantly higher for students of the originating school than for students of other schools. In the national examination, care should be taken to prevent differences in scores on the basis of question sources.

As regards obesity screening tests, it's a widly known fact that there are many problems in the existing notation of various body indices.
Moreover, in regards to the determination of skin-fold thickness, measurments must be taken at two or three places, and this, plus the fact that a certain amount of expertise is necessary, represent a shortcoming.
Using abdominal girth, which can be relatively easily measured, together with the chest girth measurment, the author examined a method for assessing obesity.
Various body indices were computed from height, weight, chest measurement, abdominal girth, etc. and the correlation between their value and skin fold thickness and average skin fold thickness was determined.
As a result of this, abdominal girth measurement and evaluation may be used in obesity screen tests in the following way.
1. Method for measuring abdominal girth.
[1] Have the patient assume normal posture.
[2] Girth is measured (in centimeters) around the area mid way above the navel while the patient resting expiratory state with arms hanging limp and shoulders relaxed.
2. Method for computing obesity index.
obesity index=height (in cm) ×10/abdominal girth (in cm)
The subject of the above research is extreamly limited in respect to age range. Therefore, the authors would like to examine further to see if this method is applicable to all age renges.