title: Weight Gain in Survivors Living in Temporary Housing in the Tsunami-Stricken Area during the Recovery Phase following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Survivors who lost their homes in the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami were forced to live in difficult conditions in temporary housing several months after the disaster. Body weights of survivors living in temporary housing for a long period might increase due to changes in their life style and psychosocial state during the medium-term and long-term recovery phases. The aim of this study was to determine whether there were differences between body weight changes of people living in temporary housing and those not living in temporary housing in a tsunami-stricken area during the medium-term and long-term recovery phases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Health check-ups were performed about 7 months after the disaster (in 2011) and about 18 months after the disaster (in 2012) for people living in a tsunami-stricken area (n = 6,601, mean age = 62.3 y). We compared the changes in body weight in people living in temporary housing (TH group, n = 2,002) and those not living in temporary housing (NTH group, n = 4,599) using a multiple linear regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While there was no significant difference between body weights in the TH and NTH groups in the 2011 survey, there was a significant difference between the mean changes in body weight in both sexes. We found that the changes in body weight were significantly greater in the TH group than in the NTH group in both sexes. The partial regression coefficients of mean change in body weight were +0.52 kg (P-value < 0.001) in males in the TH group and +0.56 kg (P-value < 0.001) in females in the TH group (reference: NTH group).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis after adjustment for life style, psychosocial factors and cardiovascular risk factors found that people living in temporary housing in the tsunami- stricken area had a significant increase in body weight.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Nagasaki University, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan.|Department of International Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuko
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7384-1113
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Nishitokuta, Yahaba-cho, Shiwa-Gun, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonekura
authors.affiliation: Iwate Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Nishitokuta, Yahaba-cho, Shiwa-gun, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Welfare, Nihon Fukushi University, Egemae, Okuda, Mihama-cho, Chita-gun, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Nishitokuta, Yahaba-cho, Shiwa-Gun, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Kozo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanno
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Nishitokuta, Yahaba-cho, Shiwa-Gun, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.affiliation: Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan.
authors.forename: Seichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Nagasaki University, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan.|Department of International Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011638:Public Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000503:physiopathology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D057192:Tsunamis; D015430:Weight Gain