ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1611286
This article is part of the Research TopicRecent Advances and Future Prospects for Sustaining a Healthier Food SystemView all 3 articles
Development and Validation of the Meiji Nutritional Profiling System (Meiji NPS) for Children
Provisionally accepted
- 1Meiji (Japan), Tokyo, Japan
- 2University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States
- 3Sagami Women's University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan
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The Meiji Nutritional Profiling System (Meiji NPS) considers life-stage differences and addresses specific health issues in different age groups in Japan.Objectives: This study aimed to develop the Meiji NPS for younger (3-5 y) and older (6-11 y) children, to encourage product reformulation and promote proper growth and development.Methods: Meiji NPS scores for 1091 foods listed in the Japanese Food Standard Composition Table were calculated and compared to nutrient profiles (NP) for children developed by the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific or Nutrient-Rich Foods Index 9.3 (NRF9.3).Results: For younger children, the Meiji NPS scores ranged from -442.3 to 423.9, and for older children, from -265.5 to 386.5. The Meiji NPS scores showed significant differences (p<0.001) between healthy and unhealthy foods, when classified by the WHO NP method. There was also a strong correlation between the Meiji NPS and NRF9.3, validating the new NPS system (r=0.73). The Meiji NPS for younger and older children may provide a useful incentive for Japanese food manufacturers to produce healthier products.
Keywords: Nutrient profiling, World Health Organization, Nutrient-rich food index, Growth, development, Children, Japanese diet
Received: 14 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wakayama, Yu, Drewnowski, Takasugi, Horimoto and Tsutsumi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ryota Wakayama, Meiji (Japan), Tokyo, Japan
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