Author(s)

Yukiko Inamura, Teiji Izumi, Kouji Sakurai, Takemi Katsui, Nobuko Murayama

Department of Health and Nutrition, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.
Kohdo Mental Hospital, Niigata, Japan.
Matsunami Clinic, Niigata, Japan.

Since a fact-finding survey was conducted in 2005 all over Japan on the eating habits of psychiatric patients living at home, and the results showed that 44.6% of the patients were obese. We carried out a study of dietary factors associated with obesity in patients with schizophrenia living at home in order to develop a dietary education program. Twenty obese patients and 20 non-obese patients were randomly selected from 30 - 50s male patients with schizophrenia in one mental hospital. Dietary survey of 3-non-consecutive-day was conducted. Eighteen obese patients and 17 non-obese patients completed the survey. The obese patients had significantly higher intake of carbohydrate (P = 0.02), consumption of snacks with junk foods (P = 0.04), and intake of energy from snacks (P < 0.001) than those of non-obese patients. Based on this dietary survey, it becomes necessary to focus on snacks, in addition to basic focus on balanced diet to prevent further obesity in those schizophrenic patients.

Dietary Habits; Food Records; Obesity; Outpatients; Schizophrenia

Y. Inamura, T. Izumi, K. Sakurai, T. Katsui and N. Murayama, "Dietary Factors Associated with Obesity in Patients with Schizophrenia Living at Home," Food and Nutrition Sciences, Vol. 3 No. 10, 2012, pp. 1387-1396. doi: 10.4236/fns.2012.310182.