• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.42-53
• /
• 2020

The relationship of abdominal obesity ("AO") with co-morbidity and mortality is well established. This study assessed the factors associated with AO, which was defined as a waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥85 cm for women, in the group aged over 65 years. A total of 1,435 subjects were analyzed among the participants of the 2014 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Statistical methods for a complex sample were applied by using a SPSS program (ver. 25.0). AO was more frequently found in females. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that heavy drinking (OR: 1.53), no weight training (OR: 0.68), stressful mental status (OR: 0.61), bad health-related quality of life (by EQ_5D, OR: 1.45), hypertension (OR: 2.18), prediabetes (OR: 1.94), diabetes (OR: 1.63), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.86), anemia (OR: 0.55), and heavy energy intake (OR: 1.41) were significantly related with the prevalence of AO after adjustment for gender. Heavy drinking (OR: 1.89), bad self-rating of health status (OR: 1.72), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.85), heavy energy intake (OR: 1.79), low intake of riboflavin (OR: 1.60) were still significantly related with the prevalence of AO after adjustment for gender and body mass index (BMI), this study suggests that certain characteristics of health habits, mental health status, and chronic diseases may be associated with AO. This study did not establish the existence of relationship between nutrient intakes, except for riboflavin, and risk of AO, but this study suggests that prospective research is needed to establish causal connections among those factors.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.169-180
• /
• 2018

Depression is a major health problem that can lead to mortality. This study was conducted to assess the risk factors associated with depression in a group aged over 65 years by analyzing nationally representative Korean survey data. A total of 1,209 subjects were analyzed among the participants of the 2014 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Statistical methods for a complex sample were applied by using SPSS program(windows ver. 24.0). Depression assessments were carried out by using the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Depression ($PHQ-9{\geq}5$) was more frequently found in females (33.2%) compared to males (16.1%). However, there was no evidence suggesting that characteristics such as residence area, income level and age, except for educational level, were related with depression. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that i) health habits such as smoking (OR: 2.26) and lack of aerobic physical activity (OR: 1.62), ii) mental health status such as bad self-rating of health status (OR: 4.30), more stress (OR: 8.31), and bad health-related quality of life (by EQ_5D, OR: 3.41), iii) chronic diseases such as obesity (OR: 0.66), hypercholesterolemia (OR: 1.57), anemia (OR: 1.91), and iv) low intake of energy (OR: 1.84) and calcium (OR: 1.71) were significantly associated with depression. This study suggests that certain characteristics of health habits, mental health status, chronic diseases and nutrient intake may be associated with depression. Prospective research on long-term control is needed to establish causal connections among those factors with depression.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.12 no.8
• /
• pp.397-410
• /
• 2014

This study sought to identify types of health behavior clusters among Korean adults and their related factors. A secondary analysis of 1,441 subjects, aged 19 to 64, in the 2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV-3) was conducted. A cluster analysis was used to identify types of clusters related to physical activity, smoking, and alcohol drinking. A complex samples chi square test and multivariate logistic regression were performed to analyze the associations between types of health behavior clusters and sample's characteristics using SPSS WIN 21. Five clusters were identified: health promotion, smoking, alcohol drinking, passive attitude, and risky behavior. The passive attitude cluster had the most subjects, with 47.7% of subjects as members. Socio-demographic factors, hypertension, and depressive symptoms were associated with membership in the alcohol drinking, smoking, passive attitude, or risky behavior cluster rather than the health promotion cluster. The findings of this study suggest that integrated health promotion programs incorporating multiple strategies need to be investigated. In addition, further studies should explore psychosocial factors that affect health behavior clusters, such as stress, self-efficacy, social support, and social networks.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.382-390
• /
• 2017

This study was conducted to identify the factors affecting the quality of life of cancer patients based on demographic characteristics, health status, and mental health using the results of the 6th National Health and Nutrition Survey. The research tool used the demographic characteristics, health status, mental health, and quality of life of the KNHANES VI-2. Data analysis was conducted using SAS 9.3 version. There were significant differences in the quality of life in the study results by age, gender, economic activity, individual income quartile, subjective health status, mental health status, activity limitation, stress perception, and experience of depression symptoms. Factors influencing the quality of life of cancer patients included age, sex, income quintiles(individual), subjective health status, activity limitation, and experience of depression symptoms, which together explained 39.1% of the quality of life. To improve the quality of life of cancer patients, comprehensive management is required from diagnosis to treatment to return to society. It is also necessary to develop and apply long-term programs including multidimensional approaches and improvement of quality of life, early screening of cancer and cancer prevention education, management of depression symptoms, and social support.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.364-373
• /
• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a mercury database for food commonly consumed by Koreans. Methods: Target foods for a mercury database were selected from dietary survey data of the 2007-2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Data for mercury contents of foods were collected through literature review. Among 702 food items reported by 24 hr dietary recall method, the contents of mercury for 300 food items were selected with systematic evaluation from the literature, which provided analytical values, and those of 56 food items were imputed by using a conversion factor. Results: The mercury database developed in this study covered 50.7% of all kinds of consumed foods and 95.1% of total amount of food intake reported by 2007-2009 KNHANES. In the database, the geometric mean of mercury contents in food items was the highest in the fishes and shellfishes group ($41.13{\mu}g/kg$, n = 101) followed by mushrooms ($18.93{\mu}g/kg$, n = 12) and seaweeds ($5.92{\mu}g/kg$, n = 14), and the lowest in the meats group ($0.15{\mu}g/kg$, n = 17). Conclusion: The developed mercury database can be used to estimate the dietary mercury exposure of Korean people, and the method for development of a mercury database would be helpful to researchers in development of a new database for other food borne hazardous substances.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.12 no.11
• /
• pp.437-449
• /
• 2014

In this study, we analyzed an effect of area-environmental factor on breast cancer screening rates using multi-level analysis. It was intended for the KNHANES-IV. Total subjects were 14338. Among them, 4143 subjects met the inclusion criteria. When we applied only empty Model, a variance of breast cancer screening rates was 0.061 in each region. When we applied Model with individual level variables, the variance was 0.034. However, when we applied both Model with individual level variables and Model with area level variables, the variance was 0.023. We drew applied only individual level variables parallel applied 3 regional variances which could explain variance of inspection of breast cancer up to 18.04% compared with applied only individual level variables. Area level variables could reduce a variance of region. This means besides individual level variables. The group can share a same thing and can effect to breast cancer screening rates. We need to discover factors which area level variables and suggest that make a standard for inspection of breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.122-132
• /
• 2014

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the vitamin D status and to determine the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations and consumption frequencies of vitamin D rich foods in Korean adults and older adults. Methods: Subjects were 10,374 adults and 2,792 older adults participating in the 2008-2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Consumption frequencies of vitamin D rich foods were estimated by using a qualitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Eleven food items such as beef, egg, mackerel, tuna, yellow corvina, pollack, anchovy, mushroom, milk, yogurt, and ice cream were selected as vitamin D rich foods based on previous research. Results: The proportions of deficiency (< 12 ng/mL), inadequacy (12-20 ng/mL) and sufficiency (${\geq}20ng/mL$) of serum 25(OH)D concentrations from June to November and December to May in adults were 8.8%, 42.3%, 48.8%, and 28.2%, 52.8%, 19.1%, respectively. The proportions of deficiency, inadequacy and sufficiency of serum 25(OH)D concentrations from June to November and December to May in older adults were 10.1%, 32.4%, 57.5%, and 24.1%, 45.4%, 30.5%, respectively. The mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations in adults were positively related to the consumption frequencies of mackerel, anchovy, all fish, milk and milk dairy products. The mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations in older adults were positively related to the consumption frequencies of yellow corvina and negatively related to the consumption frequencies of ice cream. Conclusions: Our results suggest that Korean adults were more deficient in serum 25(OH)D concentrations than older adults. The consumption of vitamin D rich foods may affect vitamin D status in Korean adults. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.163-175
• /
• 2014

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate dietary intake among female breast cancer survivors in a cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 127 women who had breast cancer surgery at least 6 months before baseline were included. Dietary intake of female breast cancer survivors was assessed through self-reported 3 day-dietary records. To compare dietary intake between breast cancer survivors and general female population without cancer, we selected the 1:4 age matched women from the 2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). In the KNHANES, participants were asked about their dietary intake using the 24-hour dietary recalls. We also examined whether dietary intake varied by age group, cancer stage, or time since surgery among breast cancer survivors. We used the generalized linear model to compare their dietary intakes. Results: Intakes of total energy, beta-carotene, folate, vitamin C, plant iron and fruits were lower among breast cancer survivors with longer time since surgery compared to those with shorter time (p<0.05). Breast cancer patients with higher stage at diagnosis tended to consume less legumes (p=0.01) than those with lower stage. When we compared dietary intake between breast cancer survivors and the general female population without cancer, breast cancer survivors were more likely to consume most of macro- and micro-nutrients in larger quantity (p<0.05) and adhere to healthier diet characterized by higher intakes of legumes, seed and nuts, vegetables and fishes and shells than the general female population who never had been diagnosed with cancer (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our study results suggested that the intakes of nutrients and foods varied by time since surgery and cancer stage among breast cancer survivors and dietary intakes among breast cancer survivors differed from that in the general population. Further prospective studies are warranted to explore the association between dietary intakes of specific food items and survival among Korean breast cancer survivors.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.65-77
• /
• 2020

Objectives: This study investigated the average number of drinkers in Korea, the number of high-risk drinkers, the average amount of alcohol consumed by high-risk drinkers, and the types of alcohol consumed according to the characteristics of the group of dependent drinkers. Methods: The results were obtained by analyzing the following data: The Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health; Country Profile 2014; WHO Country Profile 2014; Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2014, Korean Statistical Information Service; National Tax Statistics-Liquor Tax; Gallup Drinking Frequency Survey 2015 Results: This study found that a large proportion of drinkers in Korea are already high-risk drinkers, and even among drinkers, alcohol consumption was highly biased. It was reported that 49.8% of men in the problem, abuse, and dependence groups accounted for 92.4% of total alcohol consumption among the male population. Notably, the 9.6% of men making up the dependent group consumed more than 30% of the alcohol ingested among males. Women had significant variations within groups that were considered high-risk and exhibited a large share of alcohol consumption in the problem (10.0% of the female population), abuse (1.8% of the female population), and dependence (1.5% of the female population) groups, constituting 72.8% of total alcohol consumption. The average amount of alcohol consumed by drinkers in Korea seems to have exceeded the level of intake by high-risk groups. Alcohol-dependent groups consumed 900.7 mL of soju, 405.2 mL of table wine, and 2,043.8 mL of beer, which is very similar to the consumption average of 2,031 mL of beer and 895.2 mL of soju in the drinking group. Conclusion: It has been shown that men's dependence on alcohol is serious, and it is possible to infer that alcohol consumption in some vulnerable groups is very high. As the average alcohol intake among alcohol-dependent groups and ordinary drinkers is very similar, it is highly likely that the drinker is an alcohol-dependent consumer in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.29 no.6
• /
• pp.938-945
• /
• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate the risk of chronic disease as predicted by abdominal obesity in Korean adult females. Data on 2,738 adult females aged 40~64 yrs was obtained from the 2013~2014 Korean National Health Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects were divided into normal (n=1,835), abdominal obesity (AO, n=73), and BMI-diagnosed abdominal obesity (BMI-AO, n=505) groups based on the NCEP-ATP III guidelines and by applying the KSSO definition regarding waist circumference. Triglyceride blood levels, fasting blood sugar levels, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure were higher in the AO and BMI-AO groups than in the normal group. The HDL-cholesterol levels of subjects in the two abdominal groups were lower as compared to those of subjects in the normal group. The mean adequacy ratio was lower among subjects in the AO and BMI-AO groups than among those in the normal group. Moreover, the NAR and INQ scores of some micro-nutrients in both of the abdominal obesity groups were lower than those in the normal group. Both the AO and BMI-AO groups showed significantly higher risks of hypertriglycemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension, hypoHDL-cholesterolemia, and metabolic syndrome than were shown by the normal group. Notably, as compared to the normal group, the AO group showed higher risk of hypercholesterolemia, hyperLDL-cholesterolemia, hypertriglycemia, and metabolic syndrome than did the BMI-AO group. This finding suggests that it is essential to develop prevention programs including programs for those with abdominal obesity despite their having a BMI within the normal range.