Health Support Provided by Yogo Teachers for Adolescent Female Students with a Thin Body Type

Purpose: To clarify the realities and challenges involved in health support provided by yogo teachers to adolescent girls who have a thin body type. Methods: A semi-structured interview survey was conducted with yogo teachers at a Japanese high school with experience of providing health support to thin adolescent female students and the results of the survey were subjected to qualitative analysis. Results: With regard to health support provided by yogo teachers, the results of analysis found that the actual situation consisted of the five categories of 【sharing information throughout the school organization to investigate methods of support】,【 realizing studentsʼ situations through the provision of individual support】, 【referring students and parents to specialist agencies】,【investigating collaborations with parents with students ʼ consent】, and 【carrying out prevention and awareness-raising activities about thin physiques】.　 However, the analysis also found that the practical challenges for providing such health support consisted of the six categories of 【working with parents to liaise with medical institutions】,【continuous support in collaboration with specialist agencies】,【 educational health support that enables all students to manage their own health】,【 yogo teachersʼ professional knowledge and assessment of eating disorders】,【 support methods that students can engage with on their own initiative, according to their situation】, and 【creating a counseling- friendly environment to facilitate early detection】.Discussion: While yogo teachers had an overall grasp of studentsʼ situations through their organizational engagements in cooperation with faculty and school physicians, as well as individual support activities, it was clear that they faced difficulties and challenges in relation to working together with parents and specialist agencies.　In the future, improving collaboration with parents will require that they, too, be encouraged to recognize that being excessively thin represents a health problem for adolescent female students.　In addition, it will also be necessary to work towards building daily collaboration systems, such as by having yogo teachers keep track of potential partner medical institutions as a matter of routine.　It was further suggested that yogo teachers will need to provide educational and preventive health support oriented toward helping female students acquire the ability to manage their own health

The menstrual cycle affects recognition of emotional expressions: an event-related potential study [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

Background: Several studies have investigated the relationship between behavioral changes and the menstrual cycle in female subjects at a reproductive age. The present study investigated the relationship between the menstrual cycle and emotional face recognition by measuring the N170 component of ERPs. Methods: We measured N170 of twelve women in both follicular phase and late luteal phase who were presented with human facial expressions as stimuli (happy and angry). Results: In the follicular phase, participants showed a significantly larger response to happy male facial expressions. In the late luteal phase, participants had longer reaction times to all emotional stimuli, and a significantly reduced response to happy faces, especially happy male facial expressions (P<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the menstrual cycle modulates early visual cognitive processing, and highlight the importance of considering the menstrual cycle phase in studies that investigate emotion and cognition

Mental and physical effects of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake on School Children, and Health Support initiatives by YogoTeachers: Findings from a survey of high school yogo teachers 5 years after the disaster

Objective: To clarify the current mental and physical state of students 5 years after experiencing the Great East Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, and to shed light on the practical initiatives and issues faced by yogo teachers in supporting students’ health. Method: In May 2016, we conducted a mail-based questionnaire of yogo teachers at 15 prefectural high schools in Soma District and Futaba District (collectively, “Soso”) in Fukushima Prefecture, one of the areas most heavily affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.　The questionnaire focused on (1) health and school life of students; and (2) current initiatives and issues faced by yogo teachers in supporting student health. Results: We received responses from 8 of the 15 high school yogo teachers surveyed (response rate: 53.3％).Six yogo teachers (75％) responded that the “students are calm.” However, 6 yogo teachers (75％) recognized a tendency among students towards weight gain and obesity, as well as reduced physical stamina and sporting ability, while 4 yogo teachers (50％) indicated that some students were anxious about their future and career path, and were receiving personal support from the school counselor.　The yogo teachers provided support to students while attempting to ascertain their mental and physical well-being through greater health monitoring and questionnaires, and while coordinating with the school physician and counselor. Conclusion: Five years after the earthquake, high school students in the Soso district are now leading a more relaxed school life, but still feel anxious about their future health and career path due to lingering concerns about radiation, highlighting the need for long-term support by yogo teachers