Institut français de recherche sur le Japon à la Maison franco-japonaise (Umifre 19, MEAE-CNRS)

Lunch Seminar on Japanese Economy and Society

Disruption of Dietary Habits in the Elderly Analysis of a Japanese food desert

en anglais sans traduction

In this presentation I analyse the factors disrupting the healthy eating habits of the elderly in a Japanese suburban city centre. Food desert (FD) issues are closely linked to social exclusion and have complex causes that differ by country. East Asian countries, in particular Japan, have serious problems with aging populations, which strongly suggests that other barriers are likely to inhibit healthy eating for the elderly in Japan and give rise to FD issues. In the area studied, 49% of the elderly residents, many of whom were concentrated in the city centre, were estimated to have poor nutrition. Our multilevel analysis indicated that weak ties with family and the local community heavily impacted a large proportion of these nutritionally depleted elderly residents. Previously the issue of food deserts was considered to be a problem that mainly affected areas where small neighbourhood shopping areas had closed, thereby making shopping physically difficult for people without private cars. However, our study shows that reduced intimacy in people’s relationships also increases the risk of food deserts forming. Profile Iwama Nobuyuki is a professor of cross-cultural studies at Ibaraki Christian University. He is highly interested in the social problem of aging societies and has published several books and articles, including Food Desert Issues in Urban Areas (Association of Agriculture and Forestry Statistics, 2017), Japanese Food Deserts Issues (Association of Agriculture and Forestry Statistics, 2011), and “Analysis of the Factors That Disrupt Dietary Habits in the Elderly” (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0042098016677450). He has served on the Verification and Investigation Committee on Disadvantaged Shopper Issues at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Moderator: Sophie BUHNIK (UMIFRE 19 – MFJ) Organization: Bureau français de la MFJ Co-organization: CCI France Japon

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