Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Pediatrics

Longitudinal changes in body mass index of children affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake

International Journal of Obesity volume 41, pages 606–612 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

The evacuation and disruption in housing caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and following nuclear radiation may have influenced child health in many respects. However, studies regarding longitudinal childhood growth are limited. Therefore, in this study we aimed to explore the influence of the earthquake on longitudinal changes in body mass index in preschool children.

Methods:

Participants were children from nursery schools who cooperated with the study in the Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. The exposed group consisted of children who experienced the earthquake during their preschool-age period (4–5 years old). The historical control group included children who were born 2 years earlier than the exposed children in the same prefectures. Trajectories regarding body mass index and prevalence of overweight/obesity were compared between the two groups using multilevel analysis. Differences in the changes in BMI between before and after the earthquake, and proportion of overweight/obesity was compared between the two groups. We also conducted subgroup analysis by defining children with specific personal disaster experiences within the exposed group.

Results:

A total of 9722 children were included in the study. Children in the exposed group had higher body mass indices and a higher proportion of overweight after the earthquake than the control group. These differences were more obvious when confined to exposed children with specific personal disaster experiences.

Conclusions:

Children’s growth and development-related health issues such as increased BMI after natural disasters should evoke great attention.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. National Geophysical Data Center. Significant Earthquake. 2011. Available at: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/results?eq_0=9799&t=101650&s=13&d=22,26,13,12&nd=display.

  2. National Geophysical Data Center. Great Tohoku, Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. 2011. Available at: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/11mar2011.html.

  3. Virdis A, Ghiadoni L, Masi S, Versari D, Daghini E, Giannarelli C et al. Obesity in the childhood: a link to adult hypertension. Curr Pharm Des 2009; 15: 1063–1071.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Chang CJ, Jian DY, Lin MW, Zhao JZ, Ho LT, Juan CC . Evidence in obese children: contribution of hyperlipidemia, obesity-inflammation, and insulin sensitivity. PLoS One 2015; 10: e0125935.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cockrell Skinner A, Foster EM . Systems science and childhood obesity: a systematic review and new directions. J Obes 2013; 2013: 129193.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Matsubara H, Ishikuro M, Kikuya M, Chida S, Hosoya M, Ono A et al. Design of the Nationwide Nursery School Survey on Child Health throughout the Great East Japan Earthquake. J Epidemiol 2016; 26: 98–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Japanese School Health Statistics. Available at: www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/chousa05/hoken/1268826.htm.

  8. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH . Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 2000; 320: 1240–1243.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Waring SC, Brown BJ . The threat of communicable diseases following natural disasters: a public health response. Disaster Manag Response 2005; 3: 41–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kako M, Arbon P, Mitani S . Disaster health after the 2011 great East Japan earthquake. Prehosp Disaster Med 2014; 29: 54–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Iwadare Y, Usami M, Suzuki Y, Ushijima H, Tanaka T, Watanabe K et al. Posttraumatic symptoms in elementary and junior high school children after the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami: symptom severity and recovery vary by age and sex. J Pediatr 2014; 164: 917–921 e1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Osawa M . Earthquake disaster footage and its effects on children: request to the media to help protect children. Brain Dev 2013; 35: 188–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Aldrich N, Benson WF . Disaster preparedness and the chronic disease needs of vulnerable older adults. Prev Chronic Dis 2008; 5: A27.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Tsubokura M, Takita M, Matsumura T, Hara K, Tanimoto T, Kobayashi K et al. Changes in metabolic profiles after the Great East Japan Earthquake: a retrospective observational study. BMC Public Health 2013; 13: 267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Onose T, Nochioka K, Sakata Y, Miura M, Tadaki S, Ushigome R et al. Predictors and prognostic impact of post-traumatic stress disorder after the great East Japan earthquake in patients with cardiovascular disease. Circ J 2015; 79: 664–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Koshino T, Morii T, Wada J, Takahashi S . Unicompartmental replacement with the marmor modular knee: operative procedure and results. Bull Hosp Jt Dis Orthop Inst 1991; 51: 119–131.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Murakami H, Yoshimura E, Ishikawa-Takata K, Nishi N, Tsuboyama-Kasaoka N, Yokoyama Y . The longitudinal change in physical activity among Great East Japan Earthquake victims living in temporary housing. Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi 2014; 61: 86–92.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Kishimoto M, Noda M . The Great East Japan Earthquake: experiences and suggestions for survivors with diabetes (perspective). PLoS Curr 2012; 4: e4facf9d99b997.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Inoue T, Nakao A, Kuboyama K, Hashimoto A, Masutani M, Ueda T et al. Gastrointestinal symptoms and food/nutrition concerns after the great East Japan earthquake in March 2011: survey of evacuees in a temporary shelter. Prehosp Disaster Med 2014; 29: 303–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Nishi N, Yoshimura E, Ishikawa-Takata K, Tsuboyama-Kasaoka N, Kubota T, Miyachi M et al. Relationship of living conditions with dietary patterns among survivors of the great East Japan earthquake. J Epidemiol 2013; 23: 376–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants for providing their information and the staff of the participant nursery schools for their efforts during the data collection. This study is a part of a surveillance study of child health in the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster area (Health Labour Sciences Research Grant, Principal investigator is Shigeo Kure).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China

    W Zheng

  2. Department of Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Chuo, Japan

    W Zheng, H Yokomichi & Z Yamagata

  3. International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    H Matsubara & S Kuriyama

  4. Department of Biobank, Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Sendai, Japan

    M Ishikuro & M Kikuya

  5. Department of Pediatrics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    T Isojima

  6. Center for Clinical Research Data, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan

    S Yokoya

  7. Japanese Association for Human Auxology, Tokyo, Japan

    T Tanaka

  8. Department of Health Promotion, National institute of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan

    N Kato

  9. Department of Pediatrics, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Japan

    S Chida

  10. Department of Pediatrics, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan

    A Ono & M Hosoya

  11. Department of Pediatrics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    S Tanaka & S Kure

Authors
  1. W Zheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H Yokomichi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. H Matsubara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M Ishikuro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M Kikuya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. T Isojima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. S Yokoya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. T Tanaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. N Kato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. S Chida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. A Ono
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. M Hosoya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. S Tanaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. S Kuriyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. S Kure
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Z Yamagata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Z Yamagata.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zheng, W., Yokomichi, H., Matsubara, H. et al. Longitudinal changes in body mass index of children affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Int J Obes 41, 606–612 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.6

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links