This study was performed to investigate the biochemical status of iron, zinc and copper for 125 preschool children (Males : 69, Females : 56) residing in a low-income area of Seoul. The number of subjects aged, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were 19, 41, 41 and 24, respectively. The hemoglobin level of the children aged 3 was 11.8 g/dl and was lower thant hat of the other groups(p<0.05). Similar results were found for hematocrit and serum zinc. The percentage of children with an iron deficiency assessed by Hb(3-5) years : <11.0g/dl, 6 years: <11.5g/dl), Hct(3-6 years : 33%, 6 years : <35%), serum transferrin(<16%) and serum ferritin(<10ng/ml) were 4.3%, 9.5%, 8.2% and 17.7%, respectively. The mean serum zinc was 67.9$\mu\textrm{g}$/dl and urinary zinc was 0.1300mg/day. Low serum zinc (61.0$\mu\textrm{g}$/dl) occurred in 28.0% of the children. The mean serum copper was 110.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/dl and urinary copper was 0.0126mg/day. The prevalence of children with elevated serum copper($\geq$ 130$\mu\textrm{g}$/dl) was 54.8%, which was higher than 7.4%, the prevalence of low serum copper(<70$\mu\textrm{g}$/dl). Children with higher status, more weight, larger girth of chest, or larger midarm circumference showed higher values of Hb. The height and weight of children also showed a positive crrelation with serum zinc(P<0.001-P<0.05).

This study was undertaken with 542 fifth-grade elementary school children to investigate the characteristics in lifestyle, eating habits, food preferences of overweight and obese children in the Pocheon area of Korea. Anthropometry was conducted to determine obesity, and data was obtained on lifestyle, eating habits and food preferences by using questionnaires. The prevalence rate of obesity was 19.5% for boys and 8.5% for girls, and 14.3% of boys and 14.4% of girls were overweight. No significant differences was found in the body size and education years of parents, family income and the empolymental status of mother. Boys did not show any significant difference between subgroups in lifestyle, eating habits and food preferences. Obese girls watched TV longer and liked physical education less than normal and overweight groups, suggesting that an inactive lifestyle can be related to girls' obesity in this study. Overweight girls answered that they had significantly lower preferences for empty-calorie foods such as candies/caramels and cookies as well as high-fat foods such as samgyupsal(pork belly) than normal weight girls, implicating the fear of obesity for overweight girls, although more studies should be done including an assessment of actual intake of these foods. The preferences of obese girls for these foods were not higher than those of normal-weight girls, suggesting that the preference for certain foods may not be the characteristic of obese girls in this study. A special program for nutritional education with a different focus should be developed to combat the problems of each subgroup depending on gender and obesity status to improve the physical fitness of the children in this area.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between adolescent smoking and antioxidant vitamins. Subjects were 87 non-smokers and 90 smokers. who were female high school students. Smokers were divided into tow groups by smoking status, 35 light smokers (packyear<1) and 53 heavy smokers(packyear$\geq$1). Dietary intakes were examined through questionnaires and nutrient intakes of vitamin C and A were analyzed by smoking status using Computer Aided Nutritional analysis program for professional (CAN-PRO). Serum vitamin C level was measured by 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine method and serum levels of vitamin A and E were measured by HPLC. Erythrocyte lipid peroxide levels was measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) method. All data were statistically analyzed by SAS PC package program. The mean vitamin C intakes of non-smokers, light smokers and heavy smokers were 58.2mg/day, 50.1 mg/day 58.1mg/day, respectively. The mean vitamin A intakes of non-smokers, light and heavy smokers were 28.1$\mu\textrm{g}$R.E./day, 278.7$\mu\textrm{g}$R.E./day and 289.6$\mu\textrm{g}$R.E./day, respectively. There was no significant difference in dietary intakes of antioxidant vitamins by smoking status. However, the serum vitamin C level, 11.40mg/l in heavy smokers was 12% lower than that of than that of 12.70mg/l in non-smokers. The serum vitamin A level was not significantly different among the groups. Vitamin E level, 8.79mg/l in heavy smokers was 8% lower than that of 9.53mg/l in non-smokers. There was no significant correlation between the dietary intakes and serum levels of vitamin A and C. The erythrocyte TBARS level, 1.90nmol/ml in light smokers was significantly lower (p<0.05) than 2.71 nmol/ml in heavy smokers or non-smokers. The correlation data showed that the cerythrocyte TBARS level had a significant positive correlation with packyear. Overall results might suggest that cigarette smokers with a longer smoking history need more dietary intakes of vitamin C and E than do non-smokers to reach the same serum level.

In this study, focus group interviews were used to investigate female university students' eating behavior, factors related to eating behavior, information sources for nutrition, and formats for nutrition education. Thirty-six students participated in one of five focus groups during December 1998 in Seoul. Focus group discussions were video, audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed by major themes. Results showed that subjects have undesirable eating behaviors, such s eating irregular meals and skipping meals. These behaviors are caused by a lack of time, habit, or for the purpose of losing weight. The students tended to have unbalanced diets and frequently ate out. They had a large amount for dinner and frequently snaked when stressed or had an empty stomach. Most of them were interested in weight control and had attempted to lose weight, but they did not participate in regular exercise. The most frequently used source for nutrition information was the mass media, but much nutrition information was based on what they learned from home economics class during middle to high school. They received more support from mothers, elder sisters, and friends for eating behaviors, such s lowering caloric intake and losing weight. In nutrition education, they wanted to learns behaviorla skills to adopt healthy behaviors, including meal planning, applying scientific weight control methods, exercise that fit into their lives, and stress management. They also mentioned that nutrition screening and assessment should be a part of nutrition education programs. As a method for nutrition education, subjects preferred an individualized approach to group education. These results provide the qualitative information for developing nutrition education programs which will be implemented for Korean University students.

Since binge eating is known to be related to increased risk of body weight fluctuations, it may be associated with increased health risks. This study was conducted to investigate the risks of binge eating on the cardiovascular system of female university students in Korea. Sixty-five female university students who were interested in a weight control program were recruited from a university campus. After personal interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire, 36 individuals were classified as binge eaters and 29 as non-binge eaters according to modified criteria of the proposed DSM-IV by the American Psychiatric Association(APA). All subjects participate in anthropometric and clinical measurements to evaluate the level of obesity and cardiovascular risks. Binge eating subjects showed no significant differences in obesity index compared to non-binge eating subjects. However, they had a higher level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and a higher atherogenic index. They also showed close correlations with general obesity and cardiovascular risk factors. Body mass index(BMI) was the main explanatory index related to cardiovascular risk factors according to the stepwise regression analysis. Furthermore, obese binge subjects had higher levels than non-obese binge subjects or non-binge subjects for total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerols, atherogenic index, and systolic blood pressure. The findings strongly suggest that obese young women having binge eating episodes might display a greater risk for cardiovascular disease tan that shown for obese non-binge eating women.

Anthropometric measurements, particularly weight and height, are the most commonly employed measures of nutritional status in epidemiologic studies because of their simplicity and ease of collection. However, the usefulness of the anthropometric indicator is controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the anthropometric indicator to represent the nutritional status of individual adult in epidemiologic studies. In order to evaluate the usefulness of the anthropometric indicator to represent the nutritional status of individual, the validity in terms of sensitivity and specificity of anthropometric indicators was estimated by comparing the biochemical indicators to the reference indicators. The relative validity of dietary intake indicators was also measured for comparison between the three indicators of biochemistry, anthropometry and dietary assessment. The results showed that sensitivity of weight and height and dietary indicators were 16.7 an 50.5, respectively comparing the reference value of 100 as biochemical indicator in identifying anemic adults. Whereas the sensitivity of weight and height and dietary indicators were 63.6 and 36.4, respectively comparing reference value of 100 in identifying hyperlipidemic individuals(obesity). In conclusion, the validity of weight and height is much lower than that of biochemical indicator, burt weight and height still has some usefulness in identifying anemic individuals. Especially, it is more useful in identifying hyperlipidemic individual adults thant in identifying anemic individuals.

The purpose of this study was to compare dietary behavior and food intake in relation to physical complaints, such as farmer' syndrome(FS) and gastro-intestinal(GI) problem among Korean farmers. The questionnaire was composed of 24 Cornell Medical Index (CMI), 8 farmers' syndrome, and 5 GI problem questions. Food intake data was gathered by the semi-quantitative food frequency method. The subjects(male 226, female 415) who had FS and Gi problem were 12./8% and 8.3%, respectively. The physical complaints were higher in female and the elderly group. In the FS group, lower activity was seen that in normal groups. The lower health status and fatigues were found in the physical complaint groups. Dietary behavior showed low appetite in the physical complaint group, irregular lunch in FS, and irregular breakfast in GI problem group. Changes in dietary behavior were shown in the aspects of lower amount of intake quantity(40.8%), lower consumption in fat(32.8%) and salty(38.8%) foods, and diverse food items(47.8%). Quantity of food consumed was significantly different withing groups with FS. Kinds of food consumed, intake of protein source foods, milk and calcium and total animal foods were lower in the FS group. But milk and calcium source food and all animal food intakes were higher in the GID problem group. The results suggest that dietary behavior and food intake differ within the group of physical complaints.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the dietary fiber intake of 130 subjects, that included 49 subjects(29 form Wonju, 20 from Kangnung) with diabetes mellitus, 23 hyperlipidemia patients, and 58 normal subjects. After the type and amount of foods that a subject took for one day were investigated using the 24-h recall method, the intake of various nutrients and dietary fiber were calculated using a program that already contained the information on dietary fiber contents. The results showed that diabetics from Kangnung who did not undergo dietary therapy had more fat intake that those from Wonju, hyperlipidemia patients, and normal subjects thus, had more energy intake. Also, the crude fiber intake in male and female diabetics from Kangnung were 8.43${\pm}$3.47g and 3.35${\pm}$3.29g, respectively, showing significantly high amounts compared to those of male and female diabetics from Wonju, hyperlipidemia patients, and normal subjects; however, the intake of crude fiber per 1,000 kcal in males and females was not significantly different among the four groups. Also, the dietary fiber intake(14.8-19.8g/day) and the dietary fiber intake per energy unit(7.7-10.9g/1,000kcal) were not significantly different between the four groups. The dietary fiber intakes of diabetics and hyperlipidemia patients were not significantly different from those in normal subjects, and these amounts were significantly lower than recommended levels. Thus, the methods of increasing dietary fiber intake, such as developing low-calorie, high-dietary fiber foods or additives, needs to be researched.

Chronic alcoholism often leads to folate deficiency. In recent years it has been reported that mild elevation of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) is associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease. In the present study we investigated the effects of chronic ethanol consumption on folate status and the relation between plasma folate and Hcy. A human study was conducted to determine plasma folate, total Hcy, cysteine(Cys), total cholesterol and hemoglobin(Hb) concentrations in 44 Korean alcoholics(men aged 30 to 50yr) and 45 Korean non-alcoholic subjects(men aged 30 to 50 yr). In alcoholic subjects, 52.6% were folate deficient and 34.2% were marginally deficient, which suggested that most alcoholics were subnormal in folate status. Plasma total Hcy concentration of alcoholics was twice as high as in control subjects (p<0.001). We found a negative correlation between plasma folate and plasma total Hcy(r=-0.271, p<0.05) and a positive correlation between plasma folate and plasma Cys(r=0.249, p<0.05) in total subjects. Hb concentrations in alcoholics was significantly lower than in control subjects, but there was no difference in total cholesterol concentration between alcoholics and controls. These results suggest that chronic alcohol consumption may impair the disposal of Hcy by interfering with folate metabolism.