The influence of dietary environment on the eating habits and nutritional consciousness, and on the establishment of desirable dietary habits of junior high school students at 3 schools in Yamanashi Prefecture was studied by a questionnaire investigation on 94 first-year and 98 third-year students.
Five factors were extracted from a factor analysis : factor 1, eating with the family; factor 2, cooking; factor 3, full dietary habit; factor 4, physique; and factor 5, aspiration for slenderness.
Significant differences were recognized between the 3 schools in the response rate to questions regarding factors 1, 2 and 3. There was a significant difference between the ages of 12 and 14 in the rate for factor 3, and between the sexes in the rate for factors 4 and 5.
A cluster analysis of 8 ingested food groups showed a trend for those eating dinner with the family to have well-balanced nutrition, while those eating dinner alone had poorly balanced nutrition in respect of protein, oil and fat, vitamins and minerals.