The bone mineral density(vertebrae Ll-4, femoral neck, Ward's triangle and trochanter) of 160 healthy adult women aged 29-45 was measured and general characteristics, anthropomentric measurements, and dietary intake were also studied to determine the main factors affecting the bone mineral density(BMD) of adult women. The nutrient intake of the subjects was adequate to RDA level except energy, Ca, Fe, and vit A. The BMD of vertebrae L24 showed significant positive association with nutrient intake such as animal protein, P, Ca(animal) and Fe(animal). The BMD of the femoral neck correlated significantly with anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, body fat and body mass index. The BMD of both sites(vertebrae L24 and femoral neck) were significantly related to vertebrae L24 was daily Ca intake and that of femoral neck was daily energy expenditure. In conclusion, adequate nutrient intake, especially protein, P, Ca and Fe as well as increases in physical activity were suggested to prevent the loss of bone mineral density in adult women.

Hyperhomocysteinemia has been shown to be associated with increased risks for macrovascular angiopathy. The present study was conducted to document the relationship between plasma homocysteine levels and the presence of macrovascular angiopath in patients with Type II diabetes mellitus. Plasma total homocysteine was determined by a HPLC-fluorescence detection method in a total of 238 subjects, 127 diabetic patients and 111 control. Dietary information including folate intake was assessed by a 24-hour recall in a total 113 subjects, 70 diabetic patients and 43 control. Folate intake was significantly lower inn patients with diabetes mellitus than that in the control. The lowered folate intake in the diabetic patients was mainly due to reduced intakes of fruits and vegetables. The average plasma homocysteine level of patients with MA was 14.2$\mu$㏖/L, which was significantly higher than that of either the patients without MA(11.4$\mu$㏖/L) or the control(11.5$\mu$㏖/L). Twenty five percent of the diabetic patients were positively correlated with age (r=0.20), body weight (r=0.28), body mass index (r=0.28), body mass index (r=0.18), diastolic blood pressure (r=0.20), and total cholesterol (r=0.14). cigarette smokers had significantly higher levels of plasma homocysteine than the non-smokers. Further prospective studies are needed to investigate whether folate or other B vitamin supplementation could be beneficial for the prevention of hyperhomocysteinemia or macrovascular angiopathy in the diabetic patients.

This paper is to report our findings that vitamin B6 and folate nutritional state in the rural elderly population with alcohol dependency is poor. The present study was carried out to assess vitamin B6 and folate status in the 17 rural elderly subjects with alcohol dependency and 15 age-and sex-matched controls. Plasma and red cell folate concentrations were analyzed microbiologically, and pyridoxal-5-phosphate dependent erythrocyte alanine aspartate transminase(EAST) activity coefficients were determined using enzyme-coenzyme saturation kinetics. There was no difference in the amount of vitamin consumed between the two groups, and their intakes were 64% and 74.7%, respectively of the Korean dietary recommended allowances for vitamin B6 and folate. The mean percent activation for EAST of the total subjects was greater than 80%, suggesting an inadequate vitamin B6 status between the two groups. Folate concentrations in the red cell, but not in the plasma were significantly lower in the alcohol dependent(141.9ng/ml) subjects than that of the control(233.2ng/ml). Cigarette smokers had lower vitamin B6 and folate levels. Plasma and red cell folate levels were highest among the non-smoking, non-alcohol dependent subjects(11.7 and 257.3ng/ml, respectively) and lowest in the smoker-alcohol dependent group(6.7 and 132.9ng/ml). Finding ways to improve vitamin nutritional state such as vitamin supplementation might be necessary for the rural elderly people, especially for those with alcohol dependency.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the concentration of vitamin B6 in 16 pregnant-infant pairs and 15 nonpregnant women and to investigate the relationships between vitamin B6 status of maternal-umbilical cord plasma and pregnancy outcomes. dietary intake was obtained from semiquantitative frequency questionnaire. The daily mean energy and protein intakes were higher than the recommended dietary allowance, while daily vitamin B6 was only 74% of RDA in pregnant and 73% of RDA in nonpregnant women. The main sources of vitamin B6 were vegetables and fruits in pregnant women, while cereal and starch in nonpregnant women. The plasma PLP and PL levels of pregnant women were 14.85nmol/l and 20.56nmol/l, significantly lower than those of nonpregnant women. the PLP/PL ratios of pregnant and nonpregnant women were 1.65 and 0.33, indicating that the levels of vitamin B6 was altered during pregnancy. The PLP and PL levels of umbilical cord plasma were 63.55nmol/l and 32.25nmol/l, respectively. The vitamin B6 levels of umbilical cord plasma were significantly higher than that of maternal plasm. This finding indicates that the uptake of vitamin B6 in the fetus may be due to an active placental transport mechanism. The PLP level of maternal plasma correlated positively with that of umbilical cord plasma, showing the PLP concentration of umbilical cord plasma is affected by maternal vitamin B6 status. The maternal plasma PL level showed a positive correlation to infant birth weight. The positive association has bee also found between plasma PL level of umbilical cord and Apgar 1 min score.

Fecal microflora of 12 breast-fed(BF) and 15 formula-fed(FF) infants were investigated at 1 year after birth and the results were compared to those that had previously been obtained from the same subjects at 1 week after birth, and before and after weaning. At 1 year the two lactation groups showed no significant differences both in frequencies and numbers of each major bacterical species, except eubacteria, which showed higher frequency in FF infants. Bifidobacteria appeared as dominant species in 50% BF infants, heres bacteroides in 73.3% FF infants. Fecal pH was lower, though insignificant, in BF infants(6.5$\pm$0.4) than in FF infants(6.8$\pm$0.5). In BF infants, the number of bifidobacteria, clostridia, and E. coli deceased from birth up to 1 year, whereas the number of bacteroides similar trends to BF infants except that the number of bifidobacteria increased, but insignificantly. This research showed that the floral differences resulted not from the age, but from the types of feeding and that breast feeding and that breast feeding could be better than formula feeding in the BF infants had more stable floral composition and bowels with lower pH, which can play a protection role against pathogen infection.

The study examined BMIs, physical strength, activities, and the attitudes and behavior toward weight control among 7,968 Korean students{2,435 5th graders from elementary schools(ESs), 2,524 2nd graders from middle schools(MSs), 2,739 2nd graders from high schools(HSs)} nationwide. Compared to the 1987 data, there were increases of height(3-6cm) and weight(3-8kg), but decreases of physical strength and exercise. Lack of 'regular exercise' among girls from MSs and HSs and higher proportion of time spent on watching TV and using a computer for elementary schoolers were particularly noticeable. Proportions of students who were satisfied with their body weight were 49% for ESs, 35% for MSs, and 29% for HSs. There was no relationship between subjective and objective evaluations of body weight. Diet rather than exercise was more frequently chosen as a method of weight control. Compared to boys, girls showed stronger association between the amount of exercise and the subjective body weight in MSs and HSs, however this association was not found for the subjects from HSs. Values for the 50th percentile of BMI of boys and girls were 18.4 and 17.7 for ESs, 19.9 and 20.1for MSs, and 21.4 and 20.6 for HSs. In MSs and HSs, boys with BMI between 15th to 85th percentiles were physically stronger than those whose BMIs were lower than 15th kor higher than 85th percentiles. For the other groups, there was a trend of a positive relationship between BMI and physical strength. Based on the analyses of BMI and physical strength, this study suggests 22 and 21 for upper grades in ESs, 24 and 23 for MSs, and 27 and 25 for HSs as the respective cut off points of BMI for weight control n boys and girls. A need for implementing nutrition education program focused on weight control is also suggested.

In the present work we investigated the effect of regular physical exercise on the activities of erythrocyte antioxidant enzyme, plasma total radical-trapping antioxidant potential(TRAP) and plasma level of lipid peroxidation(malondialdehyde, MDA) in 64 healthy male, aged 34-67 years. The study population were divided in two groups: small amount of exerciser(exercise time less than 10min/d) and moderate amount of exerciser(exercise time more than 20min/d) according to their physical exercise habits measured by a questionnaire. Erythrocyte superoxide dismutase(SOD), glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) and catalase(CAT), plasma TRAP, as well as plasma MDA were determined. Erythrocyte GSH-Px and plasma TRAP were higher in moderate amount of exercisers than those in small amount of exercisers by 17% and 26%, respectively. No significant differences were observed in erythrocyte SOD, CAT and plasma MDA between the two groups. Mean exercise time was positively correlated with the erythrocyte GSH-Px activity and plasma TRAP significantly. The results would sugest that regular moderate exercise enhances antioxidant defences against reactive oxygen species and may increase the likelihood of a healthier life span.

We examined the folate intakes and assessed folate nutritional status of Korean women with childbearing potential. A total of 91 healthy women aged between 15 and 49 participated. They were divided into three groups by their age : A(15-24 yrs), B(25-34 yrs) and C(35-49 yrs). Folate intakes were determined by direct analysis. The foods consumed for 24 hours were collected proportionally and assessed folate. Their blood drawn in fasting state were analyzed folate levels. Folate contents of food homogenate, plasma and erythrocyte were determined a microbiological method using Lactobacillus. casei (ATCC 7469). Prior to the micro-assay, the food homogenate were treated with alpha-amylase, protease and folate conjugase. Mean daily folate intake of the total subjects was 145.8$\mu\textrm{g}$/d and in each group of A, B, and C was 114.0$\mu\textrm{g}$/d, 141.6$\mu\textrm{g}$/d, and 164.6$\mu\textrm{g}$/d, respectively. That of group C was significantly higher than that of group A(p<0.05). However, those of all the groups were lower than compared to the Korean Recommened Dietary Allowances(RDA) for folate. Especially the subjects in the group A consumed folate least that was below the half of the Korean RDA. The mean energy intake of all subjects was 1638㎉/d and those in each group of A, B, and C did not meet the Korean RDA for energy. The energy intake were significantly correlated with folate intakes(r=0.5050, p<0.001). Mean plasma and erythrocyte folate concentrations of total subjects were 6.9ng/mL and 266.3ng/mL, respectively. None were found to be deficient both in plasma(<3ng/mL)and erythrocyte (<140ng/mL) folate levels. There was only one subject who had red blood cell folate level below 157ng/mL concentration. These results show that folate status of the Korean women of reproductive age is not much bad. But it should be better that letting them improve their folate status by increasing energy intake, choosing high folate foods.

This study was performed to assess diet quality in the postmenopausal women. The data of dietary intakes were obtained using food frequency questionnaires which were collected from 151 postmenopausal women in urban area. We evaluated nutrient intake and diet quality. Diet quality was assessed by NAR(nutrient adequacy ratio), FGIP(food group intake pattern), DDS(dietary diversity score), DVS(dietary variety score), FGS(food group score), DQI(diet quality index). Nutrient intakes of the subjects were close to Korean RDA. Nutrient composition of the diet(in percentage of total energy) was 64% carbohydrate, 15% protein, and 19% protein, and 19% total fat, that was close to 65 : 15 : 20. NAR of most nutrients, except vitamin A, E, were higher than 0.75 and MAR was 0.88. NAR and MAR of the subjects in theis study were higher than those of the subjects of rural area in other studies. The subjects who consumed the five food groups were 60.9%. The mean of DDS was 4.5. The subjects who consumed more than 61 dish items during a month were 61.5%. The mean of DVS was 62.4 and it was significantly higher in the elder age group. 67.6% of the subjects were below FGS of 12. The mean of FGS was 10.6 and few subjects consumed serving numbers of each food groups which were recommended for Koreans. 55.0% of the subjects were DQI scores of 0, 1, and 2. The mean of DQI was 2.3 and few subjects followed the five dietary guidelines for Korean.

Evaluation of nutritional status of the elderly imposes different problem from the other age groups. It is essential to use right instrument to assess food consumption. In Korea, the food frequency questionnaire has not been applied widely to elderly people. The purpose of this study is to assess the possibility of employing a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire(FFQ) for the Korean elderly to estimate nutrient and/or food intakes. In this study the FFQ for the elderly was developed and validated. The subjects were 144 free-living old women aged from 65 to 90. The FFQ was designed with 4 items for cereals and 86 items for other foods and with frequency of 12 intervals. Three portion sizes were given to select : 1/2 of standard amount, standard amount, and 11/2 of standard amount. ach subject was interviewed with newly developed FFQ form and same subjects were also involved to complete 3-day diet record. Nutrient intake was calculated using software program developed by our group. The nutrient intakes by the FFQ was validated by comparing the results with 3-day diet record. The FFQ estimated significantly higher mean intakes of energy, carbohydrate, protein, fats and vitamin C than did the diet reconrds(p<0.05). Pearson's correlation coefficients between two methods ranged from 0.21 for vitamin Q to 0.69 for alcohol(mean r=0.53). From 32% to 42% of the subjects were classified in the same quintile of nutrient intake by two methods, and 63% to 84% were classified in the same or adjacent quintile. On average, only 4% of the subjects were misclassified into extreme quitiles. The results indicate that the FFQ developed for the elderly in this study is useful for classifying individuals by rank and identifying groups at extremes of nutrient intakes.

A deteriorating North Korean economy, coupled with a devastating natural disaster such as flooding and drought in recent years, brought about a severe food shortage and malnutrition problem which caused a migration of its population including young children to neighboring countries. We conducted a nutritional survey on a total of 436 children, aged 4-19 years old, who migrated to the China side of the border from July to September, 1999. The study subjects were interviewed by Korean-Chinese interviewers who were trained for anthropometric measurements and dietary surveys. Heights, weights, and chest circumference of the subjects were 70-90% of the South Korean reference values for the corresponding age and sex. Dietary intakes of the subjects were found to be extremely poor-the average number of food, mostly of plant origin, consumed in a day was 2.8, and the proportion of the subject who reported to take all three meals in a day while residing in North Korea was as low as 36.2%. Ninety five percent of the subjects had at least one clinical symptom related to malnutrition, 68.6% had 2-4 symptoms, and 15.1% had 5 or more symptoms. The results of this study provided an objective data for the first time on the severity of the food crisis and malnutrition problem that afflicted North Korean older children and adolescents as well as children aged 7 or under as previously reported elsewhere. the wasted and stunted children and youths prevailing in North Korea could exert a negative influence on the country's health and economy. More researches are needed in the future to investigate on the impact of malnutrition in North Korean children on the country's social, economic, and cultural state as well as on the health and nutrition situation.

Vitamin mineral supplement usage by self-prescription is popular behavior among adolescents. This study was conducted to investigate the behaviors of vitamin·mineral supplement usage and the relationship between demographic variables and supplement usage by healthy adolescents. Nine hundred seventy two boys and girls, aged 13-18 years, attending general middle or high schools were chosen from various cities and rural communities in Korea. As a result, vitamin·]mineral supplements were taken by 31.3% of subjects. Users tended to take vitamin·mineral supplements more frequently when they were healthy than when they suffered from disease. The taking period of supplements was different according to school type such as middle or high school(p<.05), sex(p<.001) and residence of subjects(p<.01). The main information source of supplements was newspaper/magazine/TV, and it was affected by sex(p<.05) and residence(p<.01). Vitamin·mineral supplements were generally recommended by their mothers instead of health professionals. The commonly cited taking reason of supplements was affected by sex(p<.01)and socioeconomic status of family(p<.05). The frequently responded effect obtained from supplement use was recovery from fatigue and it was different according to sex(p<.01). The major mentioned reason of not taking vitamin·mineral supplements by non-users was 'I eat a balanced diet'. The most frequently consumed supplements were vitamin C, followed by multi-vitamins supplements, and this pattern was different according to school type(p<.001), sex(p<.01) and residence(p<.05). These findings show that the behaviors of vitamin·mineral supplement usage by subjects are not resonable, and their supplement usage tends to be affected by demographic variables. Therefore, nutritional understanding and education that are intended to form the resonable behaviors toward vitamin·mineral supplement usage of adolescents should be provided with considering the relationship between demographic variables and supplement usage.

The health-related habits, dietary behaviors and health status as well as the relationships between the health-related habits and dietary behaviors and the health status were investigated in the subjects of the middle aged(20 male and 50 female with the average age of 56.4$\pm$6.1) and the elderly(15 male and 15 female with the average of 68.4$\pm$3.6) living in Chonju. The survey included the personal interview using questionnaires, anthropometric measurement and biochemical tests in December, 1998. The breakfast irregularity was shown in 5.7% of male and 10.8% of female. The consumption of generally lightly salted foods was practiced in half of the subjects. The prevalence of smoking and alcohol drinking were shown in 20% and 31.4% of male group respectively. As judged by their body mass indices(BMI), none of the subjects was belong to the obesity group. However, the considerable degree of overweight was found in female subjects. The upper-body obesity was more prevalent in female compared to male group. The percentages of the anemic subjects as judged by WHO hemoglobin level were found to be relatively high specially for female(26.2%). The blood pressure, serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol determination showed that the middle aged males and the elderly females tend to have higher levels compared to the different age bracket subjects from two-way ANOVA. Therefore, it can be assumed that the middle aged males and the elderly females are under the greater risk than the other groups. The analysis of the relationships between health-related habits and dietary behavior, and the health status showed that the regularity of breakfast, the consumption of lightly salted foods, the frequency of exercise and the alcohol drinking pattern influenced the city dwellers and the risk-related health habits as well as dietary behavior.