Hirosaki University and Hirosaki City conducted "Ikiiki Medical Checkup" for Hirosaki citizens from June 7 to 13 at the Iwaki Cultural Center adjacent to the Central Public Hall Iwakikan (Kada, Hirosaki City).

This is a part of a cohort research project to collect the health checkup data of 10,000 elderly people nationwide for about 10 years and explore the mechanism of dementia and preventive measures. Eight universities across Japan, including Kyushu University and Kanazawa University, worked on the basis of the “Iwaki Health Promotion Project,” which was led by Professor Shigeyuki Nakaji, Dean of the Graduate School of Medicine.

The “Iwaki Promotion Project” is a health research/promotion activity started by Professor Nakaji in the Iwaki district (formerly Iwaki-cho) of the city in 2005, and the “COI (center of innovation) STREAM” program promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from 2014. Was adopted. “I would like to improve dementia, locomotive syndrome, and metabolic syndrome, which are the three major factors that shorten healthy life expectancy,” says Nakaji.

About 1400 citizens participated in the health checkup in Hirosaki. About 200 people went around about 20 booths for 2 to 3 hours a day and were tested for blood pressure, physical fitness, and cognitive function. Professor Nakaji said, "Although we have about 150 staff members, there are some situations where they have to wait for a long time," said "I was annoyed by the large number of examinees, but the know-how of the Iwaki Promotion Project was utilized. ".

Professor Nakaji himself explained at the reception of the examinees. “This project is not just an effort to collect data, and it is also a problem that the examinees come to the medical examination because they are free of charge. One of the aims is to improve the health literacy of each citizen. I needed to give a firm explanation."

Professor Nakaji says "Health promotion is a town development". It involves the involvement of industry, academia, government and the private sector, and changes the consciousness of all those involved, and calls for the need for "primary health care" that is a health consciousness that involves residents. "I'm still less than 10% in the ideal environment, but I want to make a steady progress, albeit little by little."