日本兒童健康狀況全球第一,得益於學校午餐

Japan manages a rare feat for a developed country when it comes to feeding its children -- high scores for nutrition but very low obesity rates. One major key? School lunches.

日本在保障兒童攝入充足營養的同時肥胖發病率極低，這一成就在發達國家中並不多見，其祕訣在於學校午餐。

A landmark report by the UN's children agency UNICEF released Tuesday shows Japan topping the charts for childhood health indicators, with low rates of infant mortality and few underweight children.

聯合國兒童基金會於本週二（10月15日）發表的報告顯示，日本兒童健康狀況全球排名第一，嬰兒死亡率低、體重不足人數非常少。

But it also manages the lowest incidence of childhood obesity among the 41 developed countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and European Union.

日本也是經濟合作與發展組織和歐盟的41個發達國家中，兒童肥胖率最低的國家。

Experts say there are various factors at work, including a health-conscious society and regularly mandated check-ups for children, but a nationwide school lunch program also plays a key role.

專家指出，這一成績由多種因素促成，包括日本人特別關注健康、定期組織兒童體檢，而全日本範圍內的學校午餐計劃也起到重要作用。

"School lunches with menus that are created by nutritionists are provided to all primary schools and the majority of junior high schools throughout Japan," Mitsuhiko Hara, a pediatrician and professor at Tokyo Kasei Gakuin University, told AFP.

東京家政學院大學教授、兒科醫生原光彥（音）告訴法新社說：“日本所有小學和大部分初中都提供由營養師制定菜單的午餐。”

The lunches are mandatory -- no packed lunches allowed -- and while they are not free for most, they are heavily subsidised.

午餐是學校強制提供的，不允許學生自帶飯食。大部分午餐不免費，但有高額補貼。

Each meal is designed to have around 600-700 calories balanced between carbohydrates, meat or fish and vegetables.

每頓午餐含大約600到700卡路里，碳水化合物、肉或魚、以及蔬菜均衡搭配。

One sample meal served to children in Japan's Gunma gives a flavor: rice with grilled fish and a spinach and sprout dish, served with miso soup with pork, alongside milk and dry prunes.

羣馬縣的學校午餐就是一個範例，包含米飯、烤魚、菠菜豆芽、豬肉味噌湯、牛奶和梅乾。

"School lunch is designed to provide nutrition that tends to be lacking in meals at home," education ministry official Mayumi Ueda told AFP. "I think it contributes to the nutritional balance necessary for children."

文部省官員上田真由美（音）告訴法新社說：“學校午餐要能夠補充在家吃飯可能攝入不足的營養成分。”

Unlike the cafeteria system operated in some Western countries, Japanese school lunches are usually served in the classroom. Pupils frequently dish out the food to each other and clean up the room afterwards.

與一些西方國家的自助餐廳不同，日本學校的午餐通常在教室裏供應。學生們經常互相分發食物，吃完後將教室打掃乾淨。

There is no choice of meal, and no concessions offered for vegetarians, or anyone with religious restrictions, with members of either group being few and far between in largely homogenous Japan.

午餐沒有其他選擇，也沒有給素食者和信仰宗教兒童的專餐。絕大多數日本人屬於同一民族，以上兩類兒童都非常少見。

The lunches are conceived not only to feed children, but to teach them.

而且，學校午餐不僅是爲了讓孩子們吃飯，也是爲了教育他們。

"There's also a daily broadcast at school to explain the nutritional elements contained in the school lunch of the day, and this is a good way to educate kids," Hara said.

原光彥說：“學校每天會發廣播通知，向孩子們解釋每日午餐的營養成分。這是教育孩子的一種好辦法。”

At primary schools, students use magnets with pictures of food and place them into different categories on a whiteboard, learning to tell their proteins from their carbs.

在小學裏，學生們用帶有食物圖片的磁鐵，把食物在白板上分成不同的類別，學習分辨蛋白質和碳水化合物。

"School lunch is positioned as part of education under the law," Ueda said. "It's not just about eating food, but children learn to serve, and clean up on their own."

上田真由美說：“按照日本的法律，學校午餐被定位爲教育的一部分。這不僅僅是吃東西的問題，孩子們還學會了服務，學會了自己打掃。”

The Japanese government studies nutrition and eating habits in Japan annually, and uses the results to shape what goes into the school meals, she added.

她還說，政府每年都會研究兒童營養和用餐習慣，並根據調查結果調整學校午餐。

School lunches in Japan date back to as early as 1889, when rice balls and grilled fish were provided for children living in poverty in northern Yamagata prefecture.

日本學校午餐制度可追溯至1889年，當時政府給北部山形縣貧困家庭的兒童提供飯糰和烤魚。

But the program was expanded nationwide after World War II ended to address childhood hunger amid serious food shortages.

二戰後，針對食物嚴重短缺導致的兒童飢餓狀況，該制度推廣到全日本。

And there are other factors at work, Hara acknowledged.

原光彥認爲，其他因素也起到了作用。

"Because many Japanese are health-conscious, they try to eat a variety of food, which is good," he said.

他說：“因爲很多日本人都有健康意識，人們儘量吃各種各樣的食物，這是有益的。”

"And we're taught to eat seasonal food, which also contributes to good health. Japan is one of the rare countries that pay so much attention to food that is associated with specific seasons," he added.

“我們被教導要吃應季食物，這也對健康有益。日本是少數幾個如此重視應季食物的國家之一，”他補充道。

The results are clear in the statistics: Japan has one of the world's lowest rates of infant mortality, and the rate of children aged five to 19 who are overweight or obese is 14.42 percent, far lower than most other developed countries.

成果清楚地反映在數據中：日本是嬰兒死亡率最低的國家之一，5歲至19歲超重和肥胖兒童比例爲14.42%，比大部分發達國家都要低很多。

The US tops the UNICEF ranking, at 41.86 percent, with Italy at 36.87 percent and France at 30.09 percent.

在聯合國兒童基金會的排行中，美國超重和肥胖兒童比例最高，爲41.86%。意大利爲36.87%，法國爲30.09%。

Hara said another factor in Japan is regularly mandated childcare health checks. Parents of infants receive reminders from the local government, and children are given health checks at school, including measuring height and weight.

原光彥說，另一個因素是日本強制兒童定期體檢。嬰兒的父母會收到當地政府的提醒，孩子們會在學校接受健康檢查，包括測量身高和體重。

Still, even Japan has not escaped entirely the growing trend toward overweight children and childhood obesity, which in Japan, like elsewhere, tends to affect those from less wealthy families.

然而，即使是日本也未能完全擺脫超重和肥胖兒童日益增多的趨勢，這在日本和其他地方一樣，往往會影響那些來自不太富裕家庭的兒童。

"Children in poverty are more likely to be overweight because families try to cut costs," Hara said. "As a result, they eat less protein but consume more carbs and sugar, which leads to obesity."

原光彥說，“貧困兒童更有可能超重，因爲家庭在努力縮減開支。因此他們吃的蛋白質更少，但卻吃了更多的碳水化合物和糖，這會導致肥胖。”

School lunches are all the more important to children in such situations, he said.

他說，在這種情況下，學校午餐對孩子們來說更加重要。