Japan: perspectives in school health.

In Japan, the original Law of School Health was established some 65 years ago to improve the environment and to prevent infectious diseases in school. Most recently, new environmental problems and behavioral issues have emerged. In addition to environmental health and health education, a major aspect of school health has been the development of a mass screening system both to detect present problems and to prevent adult diseases. In this article, the school health system in Japan is described and the application of mass screening by reference to heart disease as detected in Shimane Prefecture is illustrated. In the future, mass screening may be combined with a computer-based analysis system for managing data on new kinds of problems. New disciplines may become involved and improved programs developed, based on the lessons already learned from mass screening.