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Purpose Epidemiological studies have reported that environmental factors from fetal period to early childhood can influence the risk of non-communicable diseases in adulthood. This concept has been termed the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). The Chiba study of Mother and Child Health (C-MACH) is a DOHaD concept-based birth cohort study which started in 2014. This study aims to investigate the effects of genetic and environmental factors, particularly fetal and postnatal living environment, on children’s health. We also aim to identify candidate biomarkers for their health status. Moreover, the second phase study of C-MACH which was initiated in 2021 aimed at expanding the sample size, especially for gut microbiota and epigenomic analysis; it also aimed at clarifying the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on children’s health.Participants This study consists of four hospital-based cohorts. Women who were

Objective This paper provides an in-depth examination of public attitudes towards salt reduction across seven culturally diverse countries: the USA, the UK, France, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and Brazil.Design Cross-sectional regression analysis with questionnaire data.Setting An analysis of questionnaire study in seven countries.Participants The study’s questionnaire collected responses from 7090 participants across seven countries with the mean age of respondents being 46.06 years (SD 16.96). The gender distribution encompassed 3473 men (49.12%), 3582 women (50.66%), 24 non-binary individuals (0.34%) and 11 who identified as ‘other’ (0.16%).Primary and secondary outcome measures Attitudes toward sodium reduction were measured on a seven-point Likert scale.Results Regression analysis revealed significant associations between attitudes towards sodium reduction and various factors across countries. Gender was a significant factor in France, with women showing less awareness than men (coefficient −0.123, 95% CI −0.237 to −0.008). Age was a significant factor in Japan and Thailand, with older generations exhibiting stronger awareness. Occupation was a significant factor in France (grocery, 0.678, 0.229 to 1.127) and Japan (food service, 0.792, 0.300 to 1.283). In France (0.090, 0.033 to 0.146) and Brazil (0.092, 0.040 to 0.144), attitudes towards reducing sugar intake were positively associated with sodium reduction attitudes. Government interventions showed varying impacts, with positive associations in Thailand (0.004, 0.001 to 0.008) and negative associations in France (−0.003 –0.005 to −0.000).Conclusion Our study reveals a complex array of factors shaping attitudes towards sodium reduction across seven countries. These findings support the need for nuanced, country-specific approaches in formulating sodium reduction strategies. Future research should validate these findings, explore further determinants and understand how attitudes translate into dietary behaviours.

Background The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games (23 July–8 August 2021) were held in the middle of Japan’s fifth wave of COVID-19, when the number of cases was on the rise, and coincided with the fourth state of emergency implemented by the host city, Tokyo.Aim This study aimed to assess whether the hosting of the Games was associated with a change in the number of COVID-19 cases in Japan using a synthetic control method.Methods A weighted average of control countries with a variety of predictors was used to estimate the counterfactual trajectory of daily COVID-19 cases per 1 000 000 population in the absence of the Games in Japan. Outcome and predictor data were extracted using official and open sources spanning several countries. The predictors comprise the most recent country-level annual or daily data accessible during the Games, including the stringency of the government’s COVID-19 response, testing capacity and vaccination capacity; human mobility index; electoral democracy index and demographic, socioeconomic, health and weather information. After excluding countries with missing data, 42 countries were ultimately used as control countries.Results The number of observed cases per 1 000 000 population on the last day of the Games was 109.2 (7-day average), which was 115.7% higher than the counterfactual trajectory comprising 51.0 confirmed cases per 1 000 000 population. During the Olympic period (since 23 July), the observed cumulative number of cases was 61.0% higher than the counterfactual trajectory, comprising 143 072 and 89 210 confirmed cases (p=0.023), respectively. The counterfactual trajectory lagged 10 days behind the observed trends.Conclusions Given the increasing likelihood that new emerging infectious diseases will be reported in the future, we believe that the results of this study should serve as a sentinel warning for upcoming mega-events during COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Objective On 7 April 2020, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. To estimate the impact of the declaration on regional cities with low numbers of COVID-19 cases, large-scale surveillance to capture the current epidemiological situation of COVID-19 was urgently conducted in this study.Design Cohort study.Setting Social networking service (SNS)-based online survey conducted in five prefectures of Japan: Tottori, Kagawa, Shimane, Tokushima and Okayama.Participants 127 121 participants from the five prefectures surveyed between 24 March and 5 May 2020.Interventions An SNS-based healthcare system named COOPERA (COvid-19: Operation for Personalized Empowerment to Render smart prevention And care seeking) was launched. It asks questions regarding postcode, personal information, preventive actions, and current and past symptoms related to COVID-19.Primary and secondary outcome measures Empirical Bayes estimates of age-sex-standardised incidence rate (EBSIR) of symptoms and the spatial correlation between the number of those who reported having symptoms and the number of COVID-19 cases were examined to identify the geographical distribution of symptoms in the five prefectures.Results 97.8% of participants had no subjective symptoms. We identified several geographical clusters of fever with significant spatial correlation (r=0.67) with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, especially in the urban centres of prefectural capital cities.Conclusions Given that there are still several high-risk areas measured by EBSIR, careful discussion on which areas should be reopened at the end of the state of emergency is urgently required using real-time SNS system to monitor the nationwide epidemic.

Purpose: Recent epidemiological studies have shown that environmental factors during the fetal period to early childhood might affect the risk of noncommunicable diseases in adulthood. This is referred to as the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) concept. The Chiba study of Mother and Children's Health (C-MACH) is a birth cohort study based on the DOHaD hypothesis and involves multiomics analysis. This study aims to explore the effects of genetic and environmental factors-- particularly the fetal environment and postbirth living environment--on children's health, and to identify potential biomarkers for these effects. Participants: The C-MACH consists of three hospitalbased cohorts. The study participants are pregnant women at <13 weeks gestation. Women who underwent an examination in one of the three hospitals received an explanation of the study. The participants consented to completing questionnaire surveys and the collection and storage of biological and house/environmental samples. Participants were provided unique study numbers. All of the data and biological specimens will be stored in the Chiba University Center for Preventive Medical Sciences and Chiba University Center for Preventive Medical Sciences BioBank, respectively. Findings to date: Consent to participate was obtained from 433 women. Of these women, 376 women completed questionnaires in the early gestational period. The mean age was 32.5 (4.4) years. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 21.1 (3.0) kg/m². Before pregnancy, 72.3% of the women had a BMI of 18.5- 24.9 kg/m². During early pregnancy, 5.0% of the participants smoked. Future plans: Primary outcomes are allergy, obesity, endocrine and metabolic disorders, and developmental disorders. Genome-level, metabolome-level, umbilical cord DNA methylation (epigenome), gut microbiota and environmental chemical exposure variables will be evaluated. We will analyse the relationships between the outcomes and analytical variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]