Although health education is an important part of health services for the elderly, the contents of municipal health education programs differ from year to year because services are supervised by individual municipalities. In regional health, education programs are rarely developed with apparent general instructional or special behavioral objectives, and the effects of education are rarely adequately evaluated. A workshop on developing programs was held for dieticians working at health centers in Niigata Prefecture. The participants showed a more positive attitude toward program development. The process of curriculum planning in medical education can also be applied to program development for regional health education.

Objective: Serum 25−hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is a vitamin D metabolite and a good indicator of vitamin D nutritional status. Low 25(OH)D levels accelerate age−related bone loss in women. The aim of this study was to assess 25(OH)D levels using population−based samples from women in a community in Japan. Subjects and Methods: Of all 187 adult women living on a solitary island (Niigata, Japan), 150 (80.2%) were enrolled in a cross−sectional study in early June 1998. After excluding 6 subjects who were undergoing treatment for osteoporosis, 144 female subjects were analyzed. Serum 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were determined by high−performance liquid chromatography. The sum of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 was calculated, yielding 25(OH)D, for which a concentration of less than 30 nmol/L was defined as vitamin D insufficiency. Demographic data such as age, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were also recorded. Results: The average age of the subjects was 61.3 years (SD 12.8), ranging from 21 to 87. The average concentrations of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were 0.5nmol/L (SD 3.2) and 64.6nmol/L (SD 17.6), respectively. The number of subjects with 25(OH)D concentration less than 30nmol/L was 4 of 149(2.7%). Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were not significantly correlated with age (r=−0.065, p=0.441) or BMI (r=0.086, p=0.310). Conclusion: The present population−based study confirms adequate levels of 25(OH)D and low prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in Japanese women. Further research should be directed toward clarifying which dietary factors determine vitamin D nutrition.
hydroxyl group ; Upper case dee ; Vitamin D ; Nutritional status ; Human Females

OBJECTIVESThe 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is known to be lower than that for cancer at any other site in the body, and the proportion of pancreatic cancer deaths among all cancer deaths has been increasing in Japan. The aim of this study was to investigate pancreatic cancer mortality in the light of temporal and geographical trends in the 47 prefectures of the country between 1968 and 2002.

METHODSTo survey the geographical aspects of pancreatic cancer mortality, we mapped the direct age-adjusted mortality rates of persons aged 40 years and older by sex in seven 5-year periods (1968-1972 to 1998-2002). We also evaluated the changes in period and birth cohort trends using estimable functions based on the age-period-cohort models in each prefecture.

RESULTSDuring the observation period the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions had high mortality rates for both sexes. No significant increase in period trends was observed from 1973 to 2002, but significant increases in cohort trends were observed from 1913 to 1962-in two prefectures, for males, and in four prefectures, for females.

CONCLUSIONSThe results of this study reveal a combination of time trends in pancreatic cancer mortality and changes in period or birth cohort trends. The changes in cohort trends in each prefecture were more variable than the period trends. This finding probably indicates the need for further investigation of the cohort-related factors involved in the prevalence of pancreatic cancer. Further research on mortality in the 47 prefectures needs to be conducted while taking the two time effects into account.