The Japanese have had tea as something very natural in their life as well as something as a table luxury close to daily life for a long time. The history of having tea dates back to 3,000 years ago, and it is said that in China tea was used as medicine in those days. It was introduced to Japan early in the Heian era from the Tang dynasty. Today over 1,000 years after the introduction of tea, tea has become the focus of atention again with many kinds of health-teas on the market. It can be said that there is a boom of health-teas.
Inquiries were made to research what kind of influence the rise of interest in tea has had on the diet habits of 182 female high school and college students aged between 17 and 22 who were the subjects of
the investigation. The following became clear;
1. Almost 100% of the subjects of the investigation turned out to have tea in their daily life, 60% of whom have traditional Japanese green tea, and about 20% health-teas.
2. The first reason given as to why they have tea was physiological need. This was cited by 70% of the respondents, with health or diet reasons only cited by 20%.
3. Some 50% of those who have tea in expectation of the tea effect acknowledged a positive effect from it for their health.
4. The amount of tea one person had a day ranged between 4 and 7 cups on average. About 90% of the respondents had tea with meals.
5. Over half of those who were the subject of investigation acknowledged that they were influenced by commercials in mass media when purchasing health-teas.
6. Drinks, whcih were selected to eat bread with, widely ranged in kind, with many kinds of beverages chosen, while they were limited only to teas for a meal with rice. Oolong tea was selected for both meals with rice and bread.
7. The rate of konwledge of the functionality of tea was the highest for diet followed by preventive action against bacteria and then by immune action against cancer.