We tried to make a teaching aid to enable effective use of a Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top. We added milk, dairy products and fruit to an illustration of serving meals of the “one soup with three side dishes” and called the placemat which was printed with the food items which was used a visual aid as “My Placemat for Nutritional Balance”.
  Both BM and BG groups need defining and differentiating. Possibly as ‘We intended the use of the placemat for adults and divided volunteers (n=18) into the balance mat (BM) group (n=9). The placemat was also used with a teaching aid of a Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top as the teaching materials for the balance guide (BG) group (n=9) and conducted nutrition education to consider the influence of the different teaching materials′.
  As a result of the nutrition study after the education, in the BG group, total amount of food eaten showed a tendency to increase, and consumption of grains and milk increased, but the intake of seafood decreased, and the tendency to consume meat became remarkable. Total amount of food intake decreased in BM group so that the ratio of lean body mass tended to increase. VitaminB₁ and iron, that are also less in Japanese meals, decreased due to the reduction of the total intake of meat.
  By a question to ask the utility of the questionnaire about the teaching materials, evaluation of the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top of the BG group was low, but the My Placemat for Nutritional Balance of the BM group was favorably appraised. That is, by use of My Placemat for Nutritional Balance together as a supplementary textbook of the Japanese Food Guide Spinning Top, the possibility of their use as means to improve dietary habits was shown.