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ICU Faculty Member Receives Research Encouragement Award from Japanese Society of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine

Update: September 11, 2018

A paper titled The associations between physical fitness and body fatness with blood lipid profile in Japanese children and adolescents written by Tetsuhiro Kidokoro, Instructor by Contractual Appointment, Health and Physical Education Program, ICU, printed in the academic journal the Japanese Journal of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine received high acclaim and Kidokoro received an Research encouragement award from the Japanese Society of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine.

Kidokoro attended the award ceremony held in Fukui Prefecture from September 7 (Fri.) to 9 (Sun.) as part of the Japanese Society of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine's 73rd Annual Meeting and held an award lecture.

Research theme:

Children, lifestyle-related diseases, physical fitness, exercise

Research content:

The study targeting primary and junior high school children examined the association between the result of physical fitness test and hematology parameters. Physical fitness was assessed by using the national fitness test data at primary and junior high schools, and blood lipids (triglycerides, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, etc.) were assessed as blood parameters. As a result, it became clear that a fitness test score of C or higher could significantly improve blood lipid parameters. Further, it was indicated that improving physical fitness can offset obesity's adverse effects on hematology parameters.

Comment on receiving the award:

It is a great honor to receive this award. I would like to thank the children who participated in the research, their guardians, teachers and involved parties for cooperating with us and co-researchers. Lifestyle-related diseases probably remind you of diseases you would get after becoming an adult, but it is believed that their origins go back to the childhood. In fact, arteriosclerosis, a main cause of lifestyle-related diseases starts when you are about 10 years old! It, therefore, is clear that it is important to start health-related initiatives from childhood.

This research suggests that high physical fitness could offset the adverse effects of obesity even if you are obese. Obesity has become a significant social issue around the world. It is of course necessary for a person who is excessively overweight to reduce weight appropriately. At the same time, the view point of "increasing physical fitness through exercise" is important to cope with obesity. I hope this research outcome will lead to improvement in physical fitness of children.

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