title: Current situation and issues using maternal and child health-related information in the "Healthy parents and children 21" campaign across municipalities in Japan.
abstract: Objectives The use of maternal and child health-related information is an issue faced by the "Healthy parents and children 21" campaign, a national campaign to improve the health standards of mothers and children in Japan. This study described the current situation and issues faced by municipalities across Japan that use this information.Methods Data across municipalities selected for the current survey of promoting the "Healthy parents and children 21" campaign in 2013 were analyzed in this study. First, we chose prefectures where collected and analyzed maternal and child health-related information was provided by the municipalities. Then, we divided the municipalities according to those prefectures where the municipalities regularly reported the maternal and child health-related information and those that did not report it regularly. Finally, the characteristics about maternal and child health in those municipalities were investigated.Results Of the 47 prefectures analyzed, 35 prefectures (74.5%) collected and analyzed maternal and child health-related information provided by the municipalities. The 35 prefectures included 1,242 municipalities, of which 700 (56.4%) regularly reported maternal and child health-related information, and 542 (43.6%) did not report it regularly. The proportion of municipalities, where information about smoking during pregnancy, immunization, or low birth weight in infants was positively used, was significantly lower among municipalities that did not regularly report maternal and child health-related information than among those that regularly reported it (P<0.001). The proportion of municipalities that coordinated projects on prevention of child abuse or low birth weight in infants with the prefectures was significantly lower among municipalities that did not regularly report maternal and child health-related information than among those that regularly reported it.Conclusion Among municipalities that did not regularly report maternal and child health-related information, coordinating projects about child abuse with the prefectures might be associated with an increase in using the information. In addition to collecting and analyzing maternal and child health-related information provided by municipalities, prefectures should help municipalities coordinate projects about those issues to increase the use of the information in municipalities.
authors.affiliation: Utsunomiya City Public Health Center.
authors.forename: Ritei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.forename: Ryoji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shinohara
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ojima
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamakoshi
authors.forename: Kencho
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Zentaro
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yamagata
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires