Abstract
BackgroundData for earthquake-related alterations in physique among young children in developed countries is lacking. The Great East Japan Earthquake caused severe damage in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures in northeastern Japan.MethodsWe retrospectively obtained anthropometric measurements in nursery school from 40,046 (cohort 1, historical control) and 53,492 (cohort 2) children aged 3.5–4.5 years without overweight in October 2008, and in October 2010, respectively. At the time of the earthquake in March, 2011, children in cohort 1 had already graduated from nursery school; however, children in cohort 2 were still enrolled in nursery school at this time. We compared the onset of overweight at 1 year after the baseline between children enrolled in their school located in one of the three target prefectures versus those in other prefectures using a logistic regression model, with adjustment for sex, age, history of disease, and obesity index at baseline. Overweight was defined as an obesity index of >+15%, which was calculated as (weight minus sex- and height-specific standard weight)/sex- and height-specific standard weight.ResultsThe odds ratio (OR) for the onset of overweight in the three target prefectures was significant in cohort 2 (OR 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.55) but not in cohort 1. When the two cohort were pooled (n = 93,538), the OR of the interaction term for school location × cohort was significant (OR 1.56; 95% CI, 1.09–2.23).ConclusionsIncident overweight in young children was significantly more common in the three prefectures affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake than in other prefectures after the disaster.
Highlights
The Great East Japan Earthquake was followed by a giant tsunami that caused severe damage along the Pacific coast of Northeastern Japan, with deaths or missing persons amounting to 18,466 in the three prefectures most affected by the earthquake: Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima (Fig. 1).[1]
In both cohort 1 and cohort 2, the prevalence of boys and age were similar between the three prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima compared with other prefectures in Japan
We investigated the onset of overweight and underweight among young children aged 3.5e4.5 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake without overweight and underweight, respectively, at Number of Number of ORa of school eventsb populationb location
Summary
Underweight among children after disasters has been recognized as a serious health problem.[6,7] in developed countries, there are no data on earthquake-related alterations in physique among young children. The Great East Japan Earthquake caused severe damage in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures in northeastern Japan. We compared the onset of overweight at 1 year after the baseline between children enrolled in their school located in one of the three target prefectures versus those in other prefectures using a logistic regression model, with adjustment for sex, age, history of disease, and obesity index at baseline. Conclusions: Incident overweight in young children was significantly more common in the three prefectures affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake than in other prefectures after the disaster
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
