• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.94-104
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• 2015

Objectives: Mental health disorders and suicide are an important and growing public health concern in Korea. Evidence has shown that both globally and in Korea, obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing some psychiatric disorders. Therefore, we examined the association between distorted body weight perception (BWP) and suicidal ideation. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2007-2012 Korea National Health and Nutritional Evaluation Survey (KNHANES), an annual cross-sectional nationwide survey that included 14 276 men and 19 428 women. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the associations between nine BWP categories, which combined body image (BI) and body mass index (BMI) categories, and suicidal ideation. Moreover, the fitness of our models was verified using the Akaike information criterion. Results: Consistent with previous studies, suicidal ideation was associated with marital status, household income, education level, and perceived health status in both genders. Only women were significantly more likely to have distorted BWP; there was no relationship among men. In category B1 (low BMI and normal BI), women (odds ratio [OR], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48 to 3.42) were more likely to express suicidal ideation than women in category B2 (normal BMI and normal BI) were. Women in overweight BWP category C2 (normal BMI and fat BI) also had an increased OR for suicidal ideation (OR, 2.25; 95% CI, 1.48 to 3.42). Those in normal BWP categories were not likely to have suicidal ideation. Among women in the underweight BWP categories, only the OR for those in category A2 (normal BMI and thin BI) was significant (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.59). Conclusions: Distorted BWP should be considered an important factor in the prevention of suicide and for the improvement of mental health among Korean adults, especially Korean women with distorted BWPs.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.153-164
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• 2016

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the body shape discordance, the difference between true body type based on body mass index (BMI) and self-recognized body image, on nutrient intake, weight control attempt, and mental health in Korean adults. Methods: Subjects were persons aged 19~64 years (4,382 men and 6,226 women) who participated in the 2010~2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Subjects were categorized as RL (Group recognized as lighter than BMI criteria), RA (Group with agreement between BMI criteria and self-recognized body image), and RH (Group recognized as heavier than BMI criteria) according to the difference between actual body type based on BMI and self-recognized body image. Results: Means of BMI in RH groups were lower than or equal to that of RA groups in all groups. No significant differences in total energy intake were observed among the three groups in men, but total energy intake was higher in the RL group than in the RH group in 30~49 year old women. Proportion of carbohydrate was the highest in the RL group among 30~49 year old women. RH groups paid more attention to weight control and had less weight gain than other groups. Higher proportions of depressive symptoms were reported in the RH group in 19~29 year old men, while a higher proportion of depressive symptoms were reported in the RL group in 50~64 year old men. Conclusion: The current findings suggest an association of perceiving body shape with energy intake, weight control attempt, or depressed mood in some age groups. Body image perception can influence eating, weight control attempt, and depressed mood, therefore proper body image perception should be established in Korean adults.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.103-118
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• 2007

Housewives' perception on obesity related variables to their family members according to the composition of children in the family was explored. Ninety housewives responded to a questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic informations, body weight perception, eating behaviors perception, and physical activity level for herself as well as her family. They were categorized into three groups based on child composition of the family; boys only (BO), girls only (GO), and boys and girls (BG) families. Boys in BO showed higher value of height, weight, and WHR than girls in GO (p <.05), while no differences were noticed in BMI and the waist girth between the groups. Mothers of BO perceived boys were active while mother of GO did girls were inactive (p <.05). Girls in GO ate meals less regularly than boys in BO and girls in BG. In general, housewives' perception on body weight of family members was relied on BMI and waist girth. As mother's BMI increased, the boy's BMI in BO was also elevated (p <.05), but not in others. Mothers' perception on caloric intake and activity encouragement were not accounted for morphological characteristics. Results suggest that housewives perceived obesity related variables differently based on the composition of children of the family.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.1052-1057
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• 2008

Purpose : This study was to examine the relations of perception of physique with self-esteem, sociality and problematic behaviors in children. Methods: Four hundred sixty five (231 boys and 234 girls) children were divided into three groups according to their height or body mass index according to the physical growth standard table had been presented in 2007 by the Korean Pediatric Society. The group 1, 2, and 3 was short, borderline and normal or obese, overweight and normal, respectively. Their perception and satisfaction of height and weight were investigated, and their self esteem and behavior styles were examined with Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) and Korean Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL). We compared the numbers of appropriate perception, satisfaction, self-esteem and problematic behaviors in each group, and analyzed the relationship among perception of physique, self-esteem, sociality, and behavioral characteristics. The collected data were analyzed with chi-square test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient used with SPSS (ver. 12.0). Results : There were significant mismatches among their real physique perception and satisfaction (P<0.05). There were no significant differences of their self-esteem, sociality, and problematic behaviors according to their actual height and weight. There were significant differences of their self-esteem according to their perception or satisfaction of their height and weight (P<0.01). Conclusion : The children who considered themselves have short stature or obesity had problematic behaviors or low self-esteem. Therefore, children should be educated to have the appropriate perception of their own body image.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.759-768
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in perception of weight management, balanced food intake, knowledge of obesity, and nutrition knowledge in university students. The average weight and height of male subjects were $175.0{\pm}5.7cm$ and $69.1{\pm}11.8kg$, whereas those of female subjects were $161.7{\pm}5.0cm$ and $51.7{\pm}6.9kg$, respectively. Average scores for balanced food intake were not significantly different between male and female students. The total number of correct answers for obesity knowledge was not significantly different according to gender, but four responses related with losing weight showed higher perception scores in females compared to males (p<0.05). The total number of correct answers for nutrition knowledge was not significantly different between males and females. The average BMI of male and female subjects were $22.5{\pm}3.44$ and $19.7{\pm}2.21$, respectively, ranged in normality. Self-evaluation of body shape was mostly in the normal or standard range in both males and females, but females showed a higher perception rate of chubby or fat than males. The percentages of interest in weight management was 36.0% in males and 50.8% in females, with higher interest in female subjects (p<0.01).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.354-363
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• 2011

This study aimed to find the differences in weight control status and eating behavior of satisfied and dissatisfied female high school students regarding their own body shape. The participants consisted of 238 students at two female high schools in Nonsan-si, Chungnam-do in May of 2008. Self-assessment evaluated present body shape and ideal body shape they would like to have by providing silhouette drawings. The subjects were divided into two groups, 'satisfied' and 'dissatisfied', according to the differences between present body shape and ideal body shape. In the distribution of subjects according to body mass index, 100% of overweight, 97.0% of normal weight and 48.7% of underweight belonged to the dissatisfied group. There were significant differences in weight control and eating behavior between dissatisfied and satisfied groups in terms of frequency and reasons of conducting weight control behavior, body weight return after weight reduction, skipping breakfast and consuming fast food. The satisfied group was two times more likely to not conduct weight control behaviors compared to the dissatisfied group. The main reason for trying to control weight differed according to the group; the reason was feeling fat in the dissatisfied group and desiring to be healthy in the satisfied group. The percentage of subjects that returned to their original weights after weight reduction was 5 times higher in the dissatisfied group. The percentages of subjects that regularly skip breakfast and consume fast food were both higher in the dissatisfied group than in the satisfied group. The dissatisfied group responded 'eating alone' more frequently among nine binge eating behaviors compared to the satisfied group. Both groups, however, did not show any difference in overeating of meals, eating speed, intake frequency of regular meals, food preference, preferred cooking method, carbonated beverage intake and snack eating behavior. In summary, the dissatisfied group tried more unnecessary body weight reduction and had poor eating behavior. Accordingly, to correct the biased perception of body shape by the majority of female high school students, the values of our society should change toward the pursuit of beauty of health.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.884-896
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• 2018

This study investigates coping strategies of overweight or underweight males in Korea. For this purpose, the authors identify types of stress related to weight management. A qualitative method was utilized to collect the data related to successful weight management experiences of males aged 20-37 years. Data were analyzed based on a motivation theory of coping, which suggests coping strategy elements. The results of this study identified the stress related to weight: dissatisfaction with appearance, others' disapproval of appearance, health problems, weaker athletic ability, negative self-perception, passiveness about appearance, lower romantic attractiveness, others' disapproval of lower romantic attractiveness, weakened task execution capability, and negative stereo-types about task execution capability. In addition, six coping strategies were suggested: improved appearance, improved physical function, improved positive self-perception, more choices to improve appearance, enhanced romantic relationship, and enhanced job performance. This study shows that weight problems in modern society are diverse and complex. Therefore a man who has abnormal weight needs to clarify his stress first and then proposes strategies that are appropriate for each type of stress.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.1559-1565
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• 2005

The Purpose of this study was to investigate college students' attitude toward body weight control, health-related lifestyle and dietary behavior by their perception on body image and obesity index. The subjects were 871 nation- wide college students (330 male and 541 female students) participating in a nutritional education program via internet- A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire via internet. The data were analyzed by a SPSS 10.0 program. Height and weight (p < 0.05), and the distribution of obesity index (p < 0.001) showed significant differences between male and female college students. As for self perception on body image, the necessity of body weight control and the experience of efforts to change the body weight, there were significant differences between male and female college students (p < 0.001). There were significant differences among groups by obesity index in the hours of exercise (p < 0.01), drinking (p < 0.01) and smoking (P < 0.001). As for methods of body weight control, all the groups by obesity index thought that program of body weight control by diet company is the most desirable method. Therefore, we must recognize that it is hard to correct health problems resulting from wrong lifestyle and dietary behavior fixed during college life and prepare a system for college students to obtain correct lifestyle and dietary behavior.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.618-626
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the intake of energy drinks and awareness of caffeine among middle school students. The subject was 313 middle school in Incheon area. The questionnaire respondents are consisted of 133 male students and 180 female students. The recognition result that allowed multiple responses to energy drink types was recognized by hot six at 28.9%, followed by red bull 24.3%, monster energy 13.8%, wolf energy 8.0% and taurine soda 6.9%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the experience of energy drink intake, intake reason, intake time and place (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in intake frequency and place (p>0.05). There were significant differences in experience and frequency of energy drink intake (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in intake reason, choice criteria, intake time and place (p>0.05). The result of the perception of energy drinks according to gender was 2.25 points for male students and 2.61 points for female students in the question 'caffeine is also present in tea, green tea, cola and chocolate'. There was a significant difference between male and female students (p<0.05). As a result of the recogniton of energy drinks, "the appropriate amount of caffeine is cleared and the concentration improves." When asked, "low body weight is 2.24 points, normal 2.27 points, overweight 1.89 points, obesity 2.46 points (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in body mass index (BMI) between the two groups (1.95 for low body weight, 2.10 for normal body weight, 1.62 for overweight and 2.43 for obesity). Regression analysis showed that $R^2=0.007$ and F=2.798, respectively. Significant differences were found at the significance level of p<0.05. Energy drink consumption expenditure(${\beta}=0.121$, p<0.05), sleep time(${\beta}=0.130$, p<0.05), and caffeine perception(${\beta}=-0.162$, p<0.05) were significant determinants of energy drinks intake.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.658-666
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• 2003

This study was carried out to investigate among adolescents (total=729) the relationship between their self-esteem, body-cathexis, their attitudes toward the importance of their bodies, their anthropometric characteristics, their perceptions of their body shapes and their experiences with weight control. The results are summarized as follows: The mean values for self-esteem and body-cathexis were generally low, but these values were significantly higher among boys than girls (p<0.01-0.001). However the mean values for their attitudes toward the importance of their bodies were relatively high and were significantly higher among girls than boys (p<0.01). The mean values for Percent Ideal Body Weight (PIBW) and Body Mass Index (BMI) were normal and no significant differences between the genders were observed. The distribution of the PIBW and the BMI values showed a higher rate for normal weights among the girls and a higher rate for underweightedness and obesity among the boys (p<0.01). With regard to their perception of their body image, among the boys, their current figures were almost identical with their idea of an ideal figure, but among the girls, their idea of an ideal figure was thinner than their current figure. The girls were more dissatisfied with their own body image than the boys (p<0.001). Fifty-four percent of the subjects had previous weight control experience, and the girls had significantly more experience than the boys (p<0.001). Their main reason for practising weight control was to lose weight (65.3%) Those who had more weight control experience had lower satisfaction with their body shapes, higher PIBW, higher BMIs or currently had fatter figures. Their standard image of their figures was influenced by TV (40.3%) and friends (36.9%). There was a weakly positive correlation between their self-esteem and their satisfaction with their body shapes, and a weakly negative correlation between their satisfaction with their body shapes and their attitudes toward the importance of their bodies. These results suggest the necessity for an educational program for adolescents as to foster a positive body image. Such a program should consider psychological factors such as self-esteem, satisfaction with body shape and attitudes toward the importance of the body.