Nutrition trends in Japan

The National Nutrition Survey (NNS) in Japan has been undertaken annually since 1946. It was originally intended to provide information on the food and nutrient intake of the Japanese people, with a view to acquiring emergency food supplies from other countries when food shortages caused malnutrition in many Japanese. The food balance sheet (FBS) has been drawn up since 1949 to show the food supply available to the Japanese people. The trends and figures shown by both approaches were similar until the mid-1970s. Since then, however, the disparity between the food supply and the intake of foods and nutrients has been getting larger. National food security means that a country has enough food for everyone. This does not mean, however, that every family has enough food, because the food may not be evenly distributed. In fact, marginal deficiencies in iron and calcium are thought to still exist and there is considerable variation among households in energy intake. In Japan, nutrition and diet are now considered to play important roles in the emerging problems of obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension etc., because of excessive energy intake and deficiency or excessive intake of certain nutrients.