A Comparative Study on Physique and Health status of Elementary School Children between Ethnic Koreans in the People's Republic of China and Kojae Area in Korea

중국 연변지역 조선족 아동의 보건의료 및 건강상태 비교 - 한국 경남 거제지역과의 비교 -

The purpose of this study is to compare the health status of Korean and Chosun-Jok elementary children. To accurately achieve the purpose, a survey was conducted in Yanbian area in China and Kojae in Korea during the period of June 15 to July in 1995. This survey was performed by using two survey methods. The first was the parents' survey method. It asked structured questions about their children. The second method focused on the actual health of the children. It used the collection of children's physical records in school. Guided by the school teachers, each child distributed the questionnaires to their parents. We used stratified-cluster sampling method to determine subjects. 1,083 questionnaires of 1,749 were used to analyze the data (666 questionnaires were incomplete and were not used in the analysis). Each questionnaire matched the data of their physical record. : Body Weight, Body Height, Chest-Circumstance, Eyesight, Dental Health. Using the data, we compared the BMI(Body Mass Index) the Koreans and Chosun-Jok in China. The results of this study were as follows : Comparing the general average physique of contained body height, body weight and chest circumstance of Korean and Chosun-Jok, the general physique of Chosun-Jok is inferior to that of Korean regardless of age and sex. Meanwhile, the average physical constitution of Korean compared the Chosun-Jok (i.e. eyesight and dental hygiene), revealed that the physical constitution of Chosun-Jok is superior to that of Korean without concern of age and sex. Average BMI of Chosun-Jok is lower than that of Koreans. But, it seemed that most of the students in both groups maintain an adequate health level. In the case of children from 10 to 12 years old, females are superior to males through all data contained of the body weight, the chest circumstance, and the body height. It seems that females and males have a different maximum growth age. Most of the parents preferred a good physique as a good health condition for their children. The physique of each child was affected with some variables, including the number of family members, and the educational level of the parents. According to the above results, the students' physique in Korea is superior to that of Chosun-Jok in China. But, Koreans are inferior to Ethnic Koreans in China in the students' physical constitution. In conclusion, we consider Chosun-Jok in China to maintain an adequate health level in their physique and physical constitution.