Ser Ping Han, Watanabe Chiho
University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Human Ecology, Tokyo-to Bunkyo-ku Hongo 7-3-1, Japan 113-0033.
Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2012;21(4):487-94.
Some countries have established fish advisories to manage fish consumption to minimize methylmercury exposure. Our objective was to compare the fish advisories and the resultant consumer behavior in the United States of America (USA) and Japan. Both countries have national consumption guidelines, but American states enjoy greater independence in issuing guidelines for local water bodies and vary in the information that is provided for the public. The proportion of the American public that has heard of state fish advisories is thought to be close to 30%. There is a concern that this low level of awareness extends to pregnant women. In Japan, the current problem is the lack of comprehensive studies on the public awareness of fish advisories. Nonetheless, there is evidence that fish consumption has decreased in both countries. In USA, there is a possibility that the strong emphasis on mercury toxicity drives the general population towards a trend of lower fish consumption. In Japan, the fish advisory encourages seafood consumption for nutritional benefits. Consequently, the decrease may be due to the shift towards a "Western diet". Also, the Japanese fish advisory seems to be less active in advocating the issue of fish consumption and mercury exposure, which may be partly responsible for the possible lesser attention of the consumers. Cultural factors may explain for the baseline difference in consumption and account partly for the change in Japanese consumer behavior. However, the dissimilarities in fish advisories may also be responsible for the variations in consumer behavior.
一些国家已制定鱼类消费建议，以管理鱼类消费，尽量减少甲基汞暴露。我们的目标是比较美利坚合众国（美国）和日本的鱼类消费建议及由此产生的消费者行为。两国都有国家消费指南，但美国各州在为当地水体发布指南方面享有更大的独立性，而且提供给公众的信息也各不相同。据认为，听说过州级鱼类消费建议的美国公众比例接近30%。人们担心这种低知晓率在孕妇中也存在。在日本，目前的问题是缺乏关于公众对鱼类消费建议知晓情况的全面研究。尽管如此，有证据表明两国的鱼类消费量都有所下降。在美国，对汞毒性的强烈强调可能促使普通民众出现鱼类消费减少的趋势。在日本，鱼类消费建议鼓励出于营养益处而食用海产品。因此，消费量下降可能是由于向“西方饮食”的转变。此外，日本的鱼类消费建议在倡导鱼类消费和汞暴露问题方面似乎不够积极，这可能部分导致消费者对此问题的关注较少。文化因素可以解释消费方面的基线差异，并部分说明日本消费者行为的变化。然而，鱼类消费建议的差异也可能导致消费者行为的不同。
