(P06-051-25) Development of the Meiji NPS for Children in Japan

Objectives: Nutritional Profiling System (NPS) is a scientific method that evaluates the nutritional value of foods based on their nutrient content aiming to prevent disease and promote health. The Meiji NPS takes into account the characteristics of Japanese diets and the differences in health needs at different life stages. The primary health concerns for children are proper growth and development. This study aims to develop a new Meiji NPS for use by food manufacturers in reformulating products for children in Japan, and to investigate its validity.

Methods: The new Meiji NPS focuses on the population groups of young children aged 3 to 5 years old and children aged 6 to 11 years old in Japan. It is based on the ratio of nutrients to encourage, nutrients to limit, and food groups to encourage relative to the age-appropriate reference daily values. The convergent validity of the Meiji NPS was tested with reference to the World Health Organization (WHO) NP method and Nutrient-Rich Foods Index 9.3 (NRF9.3).

Results: The Meiji NPS scores for young children and children were calculated for food items listed in the Japanese Food Standard Composition Table 2020 Edition. The two groups of Meiji NPS scores classified as healthy and unhealthy by the WHO NP method, showed a significant difference (p < 0.001). This means that the Meiji NPS score reflects the classification of food items as healthy or unhealthy according to the WHO NP method. Additionally, the Spearman’s correlation coefficients between the Meiji NPS for young children or for children and NRF9.3 were both 0.73.

Conclusions: In this study, the convergent validity of the Meiji NPS for young children and children was confirmed. These two NPSs may be useful for nutritional evaluation and the reformulation of food products to ameliorate health issues of children in Japan.

Funding Sources: This study received no external funding.