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Mr. S., is a 50 year old Miyagi Coop store manager. Upon health examination, this patient showed abnormally high results of blood lipids. Two years ago, total cholesterol (below - "total"), was 261,of that, the LDL -cholesterol (below - "bad"), was 190, which was considered a level requiring treatment. I gave this patient nutrition guidance once. Results after one year were 227 and 170, for levels of total lipids and bad lipids, respectively. These results show only slight improvement. About the progress up to that day, the person said, "The year before last, I was told that I had a high fat blood disease, and I thought that I had to do something. However, I do not know what to do. Also, I must be in the store from morning until late every day, and come back at night and eat and go to bed, so I could only decrease my alcohol intake slightly. " After assignment to our center, conditions have gradually changed, thanks to Miyagi Coop occupational health care nurse's continued health guidance, aided by guidance of occupational physicians from our outpatient clinic during store visits. Recently, especially the problem of meal times has been taken up. If the morning and daytime have a normal meal schedule, then the daytime to night period extends without nutrition for 10 hours. Therefore, the patient was working on an empty stomach up to closing time. And, as it happens, filling his stomach with supper after coming home, having a drink, and then sleeping. So, I instructed him to, at around 6 o'clock in the evening, "Take a light meal, then decrease the late night "supper" you eat at home." At home, consulting with his wife and daughter, he increased intake of green vegetables while decreasing meat, and oily foods. Six p.m. is his store's busiest time belt, so with great effort, he was able to get a little bite to eat. As the manager, he said it was difficult to eat while others worked. As it was, these irregular meals would not change, and as a result we made him understand that these irregular lipid levels would not improve. Presenting the problem at the store's Safety and Hygiene Committee, he was told to "JUST EAT". He started to make onigiri (rice balls) with the remainder of the rice in the daytime of the store staff's dining room. For the first month and a half, the manager was the only one doing so, but after awhile, even the staff began to imitate the practice, and after a half year, everyone working until nine began to eat, even making the onigiri became a shared duty. And, after a half year, in March of this year, the result was that although total cholesterol count was 230, pathogenic cholesterols dropped to a fair 153 that further approaches normal levels. Not only are blood results an improvement, but he also grins and says, "I'm happy to be losing my big spare tire. Even my family's figure has improved and everyone is happy." he said. As for this progress, the Coop even introduced him in a mini roundtable discussion in the staff publicity magazine "INSPIRE", so that the news spread to other stores. (At present, occupational medicine and occupational nursing practitioners plan with each other every other month. It has done so for more than 10 years.) "Adult's Diseases" assumed the new moniker - "Lifestyle Sicknesses", known by the saying - "bad personal habits are an individual's responsibility". But an individual worker, to be able to have good personal habits, must have "assurance of good workplace conditions". I think this is one of those cases, so I introduce it. |