Atsuko Murayama

Study on the Supper Menu in Daily Meals

We carried out an investigation for 3 days in the autumn of 1981 among 300 junior college students in respect of their daily meals. Dishes they had for supper were classified into 10 groups, and association analysis was conducted in order to examine the combinations of the dishes. The following results were obtained: 1) Group 8 showed the highest frequency at 40.1%, Group 7;23.2%, Group 9;14.4% and Group 6;9.9%. The rest of the groups showed the frequencies of less than 3%. 2) Six clusters were obtained from the association analysis. Cluster 8 showed the highest ratio at 24.8%, followed by Cluster 10 at 24.5% and Cluster 9 at 14.3%. Cluster 8 consisted of dishes selected from Group 8 (52%), Groups 8 and 6 (12.7%), and Groups 8 and 3 (12.2%), while Cluster 9 consisted of dishes of Groups 7 and 8 (64.5%), and of Groups 7, 6 and 8 (21.5%). Cluster 10 were of Groups 9, 8 and 6 (37.6%), Groups 9 and 8 (25.2%), and then Groups 9 and 7 (15.1%). 3) Supper menu consisted of traditional Japanese dishes such as cooked rice, miso soup, Japanese pickles in addition to meat dish and salad. Meat dish and salad were preferred by younger generation because of comparatively inexpensive costs, ease in cooking and short cooking time, i.e. 20 to 30 minutes. Jap. J. Nutr., 40(2)115-119(1982)

Classification of Daily Dishes by Principal Component Analysis

As a means for investigating the trends in daily dietary life, we studied the time required for cooking and preparing, the number of cooking steps and kitchen utensils used and the cost of materials in respect of most commonly prepared 234 dishes. Principal component analysis was applied to the data obtained. The results are as follows: 1) The first component means the time-factor in preparing meals and the second component the cost factor. 2) 234 dishes studied were classified to 10 groups and described below. 3) About 90% of the dishes prepared for daily meals are in the range of +0.5 to -0.5 at the F1 axis (first component) and •}0.2 at the F2 axis (second component). 4) Ready-to-serve dishes were at -0.3 of the F1 axis, while dishes which were retortprocessed, and those using frozen or half-cooked foods were at 0•`0.25 of the F1 axis. 5) Dishes made from scratch were in the positive quarters of the F1 and F2 axes and those requiring simple steps only in the positive quarter of the F1 axis and the negative quarter of the F2 axis.