Introduction:
The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011, with a nuclear accident subsequently occurring at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The disaster forced many evacuees to change particular aspects of their lifestyles, such as their diet, physical exercise, and other personal habits.
Hypothesis:
We assessed the hypothesis that mean body weight and the proportion of people being of overweight/obese would increase among residents in the evacuation zone after the disaster compared with before the disaster.
Methods:
This longitudinal study examined Japanese subjects aged 40-90 years using data collected from 53,925 participants (23,936 men and 29,989 women) sourced from general health checkups conducted in 16 communities, including the evacuation zone specified by the government, between 2008 and 2010. The participants were divided into 3 groups; evacuees and non-evacuees living in communities near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and non-evacuees living in communities 75 miles far from the plant. Height in stocking feet and weight in light clothing were measured, with the body mass index calculated as the weight (kg)/height (m)
2
. Follow-up examinations were conducted from June 2011 to the end of March 2013.
Results:
A total of 35,532 participants (15,799 men and 19.733 women, follow-up proportion: 66%) received follow-up examinations after the disaster, with an average follow-up of 1.5 years. Mean body weight significantly increased in both evacuees (n=9,671) and non-evacuees (n=17,815) living in communities near the plant after the disaster, but not non-evacuees living in communities far from the plant (n=8.046); changes in body weight were +1.2kg , +0.3kg, and -0.3kg, respectively (p for difference <0.001). The proportion of overweight/obese people also increased among residents living in communities near the plant after the disaster. The proportions of overweight people before and after the disaster were 31.8% and 39.4% for evacuees and 28.3% and 30.3% for non-evacuees living in communities near the plant, respectively, while proportions among non-evacuees living in communities far from the plant were 30.6% and 30.5%, respectively.
Conclusions:
Body weight and the proportion of people being overweight/obese increased among residents, especially evacuees, in the evacuation zone of Fukushima prefecture after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Influence of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on the birth weight of newborns in Fukushima Prefecture: Fukushima Health Management Survey
