• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.536-546
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• 2009

This study was done to investigate the effect of stress on appetite and eating habits, and other health-related behaviors. The subjects of this study consisted of 188 males and 224 females in Ulsan area. The results were as follows: When stressed, 56% (n = 231) of the subjects experienced a change in appetite and of these, 32% (n = 132) experienced an increased appetite. Stress-induced eating may be one factor contributing to the development of obesity. There was a gender-specific response to stress in which women are more likely to use food to deal with stress, whereas men are more likely to use alcohol consumption or smoking. It was found that types of stressors were individual (52.9%), social (50.7%), family relations (34.5%), work demands (34.2%) and physical environment (32.3%). Stress-induced symptoms of the subjects were anxiety (38.3%), headache (36.7%) and neck or shoulder aches (36.2%), and females experienced those symptoms more than males. Those older than 50 years had a higher eating habit score and lower stress score compared with younger subjects. There were significant differences between sex, age, occupation, family type, BMI, exercise, sleeping hours and eating habits or stress level. This study may be helpful in advancing findings in this area to better provide health professionals with appropriate counseling tools to improve the health of all individuals.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.703-712
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• 2009

The principal objective of this study was to supply basic material determine basic information regarding effective health promotion regimens for elderly women via a comparative survey of health status by aging age between elderly women (=70 y) and college women. The subject groups of elderly women (=70 y) and college women were selected and surveyed from March to October, 2008, in the Seoul area. The average age of the elderly women assessed in this study was $78.64{\pm}7.30$, the average height was $147.07{\pm}5.72$ cm, and the average weight was $50.47{\pm}7.44$ kg. As compared with college women, a higher percentage of elderly women ate breakfast regularly, but the elderly women also experienced difficulties in chewing due to dentures, and therefore ate their meals with large quantities of liquids, and usually ate their meals within 10 minutes. The majority of elderly women suffered from at least one disease, and the most common symptom reported was hypertension (25%). 52.2% of elderly women and 47.8% of college women reported that they exercised 1~2 times per week. They reported that their favorite exercise was light exercise, such as jogging and athletics (73.1%). As compared with college women, the smoking rate was lower among elderly women, but some of the elderly women were long-time smokers or alcoholics. The differences in red blood cells counts, Hb, hematocrit, and MCV of the between elderly women and college women were significant. In addition, but the MCH and MCHC were higher in elderly women compared with college women and the total cholesterol of elderly woman ($175.62{\pm}38.89$ mg/dL) was significantly lower compared with college woman ($186.13{\pm}28.19$ mg/dL). TG ($127.89{\pm}51.25$ mg/dL) and LDL-cholesterol ($120.51{\pm}32.88$ mg/dL) of elderly woman were significantly higher than TG ($79.71{\pm}40.9$ 6mg/dL) and LDL-cholesterol($103.78{\pm}22.94$ mg/dL) of college woman (p<0.05). The levels of HDL-cholesterol ($58.78{\pm}12.90$ mg/dL) in the college women was significantly higher than the HDLcholesterol levels ($48.17{\pm}13.79$ mg/dL) of the elderly women (p<0.05). Serum vitamin C levels in elderly women were significantly higher than those of college women (p<0.05), whereas no significant difference was detected between the two groups. Consequently, it can be concluded that the appropriate education programs for dietary habits and health promotion are necessary for a healthier life. Additionally, it is necessary for individuals to precisely determine precisely their own health status, and develop appropriate dietary programs for themselves.