• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.644-654
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate the related factors to nutritional supplements intake of elementary school student aged 7 to 12 years in Incheon area. The subjects were 631 mothers of elementary school students and cross-sectional study was conducted by a self-administered questionnaire. In view of the relation with general circumstances, taking nutritional supplements was shown to be significantly associated with general and socio-demographic factors such as father's job, mothers concern about children's academic record, family's monthly income and food cost, and the experience of other family members' taking nutritional supplement. In view of the relation with anthropometric and health-related factors, taking nutritional supplement was associated with elementary school student' weight obesity index, mothers evaluation of children's height and weight mother's concern about health and growth of children, and ,disease of children. In view of the dietary behavior-related factors, taking nutritional supplements was associated with skipping breakfast, food habits, and mothers beliefs and attitude about nutrition and nutritional supplements. However, it was shown that mothers nutritional knowledge did not affect taking nutritional supplements. Therefore, it may be suggested that general and socio-demographic factors, anthropometric and health-related factors, dietary behavior-related factors, and mother's nutritional beliefs and attitude are important determinants in children's taking nutritional supplements.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.27-43
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• 2005

Purpose： The purpose of this study was to estimate obesity rate among mentally disabled children in six public schools in Korea. Furthermore, this study identified several factors that correlated with these children's obesity. The results of this study can help identify mentally disabled children who are at an increased risk for obesity and can be used to promote good health in this population. Methods： 1,102 subjectsfrom six public special schools were classified 4 groups who assessed for BMI for age-gender specific reference chart(1998) based on our previous data. Moreover, 207 parents were surveyed to identify predisposing factors for children's obesity, including characteristics of the children and parents, socioeconomic factors, children's eating habits, and children's exercise habits. Results： The prevalence of obesity among the 1,102 mentally disabled children was 17.3%. There was a statistically significant correlation between obesity and factors, such as age, maternal education, parents' perceptions about their child's obesity, frequency of breakfast, and exercise habits. Each of these factors was determined to have a statistically significant influence on obesity when all other factors were controlled in a multivariate analysis with multiple logistic regression analysis. Conclusions： Parental perceptions had an especially strong impact on the weight of their mentally disabled child. This is presumably due to the great influence that parents have on the lifestyles of their children, including dietary habits and frequency of exercise. Furthermore, the rate of obesity was directly proportional to the age of the child. The results of this study strongly indicate the need for preemptive health education programs that stress weight management for mentally disabled elementary school students.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.332-343
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• 2016

Objectives: Study purpose was to investigate perception on diet, diet problems and related factors among young adult women using focus group interviews (FGI) based on the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). Methods: Eight groups of FGI were conducted with 47 female undergraduate or graduate students. Guide for FGI included questions regarding perception on optimal diet, diet problems and cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors of SCT. FGI were video, audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed by themes and sub-themes. Results: Subjects showed irregular eating habits (skipping breakfast, irregular meal time) and selection of unhealthy foods as the main diet problems. Regarding cognitive factors related to optimal diet, subjects mentioned positive outcome expectations (e.g., health promotion, skin health, improvement in eating habits, etc.) and negative outcome expectations (e.g., annoying, hungry, expensive, taste). Factors that promoted optimal diet were mainly received from information from mobile or internet and access to menu or recipes. Factors that prevented optimal diet included influence from friends, lack of time and cooking skills. Behavioral factors for optimal diet included behavioral capability regarding snacks, healthy eating and smart food selection. Subjects mentioned mass media (mobile, internet, TV) as the influential physical environment, and significant others (parents, friends, grandparents) as the influential social environment in optimal diet. For education topics, subjects wanted to learn about healthy meals, basic nutrition, disease and nutrition, and weight control. They wanted to learn those aspects by using mobile or internet, lectures (cooking classes), campaign and events. Conclusions: Study results might be used for planning education regarding optimal diet for young adult women. Education programs need to focus on increasing positive outcome expectations (e.g., health) and behavioral capability for healthy eating and food selection, reducing negative outcome expectations (e.g., cost, taste) and barriers, making supportive environments for optimal diet, and incorporating topics and methods found in this study.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.13-26
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence aerobic physical activity among Korean adults, including sociodemographic characteristics, health behavior, health status, social relationships, community satisfaction, and to find ways to increase aerobic physical activity among adults. Methods: In 2019, 191,152 adults in the Community Health Survey were analyzed, and complex sample frequency analysis, Rao-Scott test and complex sample logistic regression analysis were conducted by dividing them into the presence or absence of aerobic physical activity practice. Results: The rate of aerobic physical activity among adults was 36.0%, and males were higher than females. Among individual factors, gender, age, income level, smoking, drinking, weight control attempt, frequency of breakfast, obesity, quality of life, and subjective health status were factors that had a significant effect. Among social relationship factors, leisure activities and contact with neighbors at least once a week were significant factors, and only overall safety level satisfaction was a factor that had a significant effect on physical activity practice in community satisfaction factors. Conclusion: Programs focused on personal factors, social relationships, and networks should be strategically developed to improve the participation rate of adult aerobic physical activities, indicating the importance of these factors over community infrastructure. To development of community-centered professional integrated health education will be necessary in the future.

• Health Policy and Management
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.355-365
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• 2020

Background: This study is aimed to verify individual and regional-level factors affecting the depression of Koreans and to develop social programs for improving the depressive status. Methods: This study used individual-level variables from the Korean Community Health Survey (2018) and used the e-regional index of the Korean Statistical Information Service as the regional-level variable. A multi-level logistic regression was executed to identify individual and regional-level variables that were expected to affect the extent of depressive symptoms and to draw the receiver operating characteristic curve to compare the volume of impact between variables from both levels. Results: The results of the multi-level logistic regression analysis in regards to individual-level factors showed that older age, female gender, a lower income level, a lower education level, not having a spouse, the practice of walking, the consumption of breakfast higher levels of stress, and having high blood pressure or diabetes were associated with a greater increase in depressive symptoms. In terms of regional factors, areas with fewer cultural facilities and fewer car registration had higher levels of depressive symptoms. The comparison of area under the curve showed that individual factors had a greater influence than regional factors. Conclusion: This study showed that while both, individual and regional-level factors affect depression, the influence of the latter was relatively weaker as compared to the first. In this sense, it is necessary to develop programs focused on the individual, such as social prescribing at the local or community-level, rather than the city and nation-level approach that are currently prevalent.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.186-195
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the dietary behaviors and stress-related factors among male and female college students. Methods: A total of 405 college students (male-195, female-210) were recruited, of whom a questionnaire-based survey was conducted. The study investigated the general characteristics, health-related factors, dietary behaviors, and stress-related factors of the respondents. Results: The body mass index was significantly higher in males. The rates of underweight and overweight were significantly different between male and female respondents. The scores for workout frequency, health concerns and health condition were significantly higher in males, while the score for watching TV & playing computer games was significantly higher in females. The scores for meal regularity, frequency of breakfast consumption, and smoking were significantly higher in males. Eating problems showed a significant difference between males and females. The biggest source of stress was social factors, followed by college study and individual factors and the most experienced stress-induced symptom was anxiety, followed by headache and stomachache. The most popular way to overcome stress was taking a rest, followed by drinking & smoking and outdoor activity. The most preferred food under stressful conditions were alcohol or beverages, followed by hot & spicy food and sweet food, which showed a significant difference between males and females. Conclusion: These results indicate that stress affects dietary behaviors, drinking, smoking, and health status. Stress not only changes dietary behaviors, but is also related to health status. Therefore, it is necessary to develop appropriate programs for emotional stability and stress relief targeting college students which provide continuous nutrition education focused on desirable dietary behaviors and nutritional aspects.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.449-461
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• 2007

This study was conducted to investigate the changes of physical and psychological factors of obese children, obesity indices and blood serum levels, food habits and body and self-esteem after a weight control program. The results from this study were as follows: Participants of the study involved 20 boys (48.8%) and 21 girls (51.2%) totaling 41 children. Children's weight control experiences were 90.2% and parents' were 59.5%. Among methods of weight control, children and parents both used exercise and reduced amounts of meals. Sixty-one percent of the children had breakfast almost everyday. The reasons of skipping breakfast were having no time to eat by 44.4% and 50% of children watched TV while having a meal and they considered taste (55.3%) and nutrition value (21.1%) when choosing food. After the weight control program, the children's body fat percent (%) significantly decreased from 40.3% to 35.4% (p < 0.01). There was significant difference of boys and girls' hip circumferences (92.9 cm, 91.4 cm, p < 0.01) after the program but there was only a slight change in their WHR (0.91, 0.92). Girls' waist circumferences significantly decreased from 75.0 cm to 73.0 cm (p < 0.05) and there was a significant increase in HDL-cholesterol, 50.0 (mg/dL) to 55.2 (mg/dL), (p < 0.05). Knowledge levels of obesity significantly increased from 2.5 to 5.1 in the girls' cases (p < 0.001). Nonetheless, attitudes of weight control and food habits score had not changed a lot. After the program, both the boys and girls' body-esteem had significantly increased (p < 0.01) but self-esteem had not changed. These results suggest that a body weight control program must be included in nutrition education, exercise and psychotherapy to improve body and self-esteem of obese children.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.598-605
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• 2009

This study was investigated to examine the dietary habits and satisfaction with a school lunch program for high school boys and girls. The survey was conducted on 416 students(208 boys and 208 girls) using questionnaire. Overall, 40.1% of the respondents reported that they skip breakfast, and more girls skipped breakfast than boys(p<0.05). The major reason for skipping meal was 'no enough time'(48.3%) and duration of meal appeared the highest ratio in '10~15 minutes'(51.7%) and boys having meal with 10 minutes were significantly higher than girls(p<0.001). When asked if they have an unbalanced diet, 58.8% responded "little bit do it but it depends on food". Vegetables were the foods most absent from an unbalanced diet. Additionally, 90% of all respondents takes a snack a day, and 21.5% of the respondents reported that snacks were the most preferable meals. In terms of a satisfaction with school meals, 70.6% of the respondents reported that they were "unsatisfied". Additionally, 43.5% of the students reported that they did not finish their soup. Moreover, 57.5% of the students reported that they were dissatisfied because that food was "not tasty". Based on the results of this study, the meal habits of the students were determined by various factors including gender. To ensure that boys and girls receive the proper nutrition, development of proper eating habits through school meals, nutrition education and a guidance during meal service should be achieved.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.297-304
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• 2017

Although adolescents' obesity prevalence increases recently in Korea due to Westernized dietary life, according to social and economic development, and physical activity decline, distorted body image and improper dietary habits are prevalent, because of excessive obsession with weight control, deriving from psychological impacts including appearance supremacy. This study conducted a survey on health oriented awareness and attitude related with dietary habits targeting adolescents, such as high school students and college students, younger than 24, from May 11 to May 29, 2015. In this study, 280 questionnaire copies were collected out of 300 distributed questionnaire copies, and used 269 copies as analysis data, except 11 copies of which responses were inadequate. The results of this study are as follows: First, the high school students showed higher dietary regularity than the college students. Especially, 95.5% of the college students showed very high irregularity of lunch, compared with just 4.5% of the high school students. Second, the adolescents showed distorted perceived body image in comparison with body mass index (BMI). As a result of examining BMI relationship, according to one's own perception on body type, 28.6% of the respondents perceived themselves fat, despite normal BMI, and 40.4% of the respondents perceived themselves normal, despite low BMI. Third, health behavior activities level was higher, as the regularity of breakfast (B=1.093), lunch, (B=0.650), and dinner (B=0.765) was higher. The variable affecting the most ( ${\beta}=0.372$) was the regularity of breakfast. As interest in weight control was higher, health behavior activities was lower. Because over-interest in weight control may be linked with improper dietary habits or weight control, a caution is needed. The results of this study are expected to be utilized as the basic data for the policy and health-oriented program development to improve adolescents' health behavior practice.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.69-76
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• 2001

This study was conducted to provide current information on dietary behaviors and dish preferences of elementary school children and to suggest guidelines for proper dietary behaviors. To accomplish study objectives survey was executed using the questionnaire for 420 fifth and sixth grade school children, chosen from schools in Kangwha-gun and East River District of Seoul. A questionnaire largely consists of categories including general characteristics, dietary behavior and preferences of the subjects for some dishes. Results showed 30％ of the subjects had breakfast irregularly. A majority of the subjects took Korean style dishes of cooked rice and soup for breakfast. fifty-eight percent of subjects had a regular meal time. Imbalanced diet(avoiding specific flood group thereby causing unbalance in nutrient intake) habit group was estimated to be 47.3%. Twenty one percent had a habit of overeating. In choosing the snack, taste was considered to be a more important factor than nutrition. Advertisement of the snack was shown to be one of the Important factors in selecting the snack. The girls were more concerned about weight control than the boys. Also the girls were likely to rely on the diet to control weight since they exercised only in the physical c1ass while the boys exercised regularly. Generally, children liked animal protein containing foods and the preference for vegetables was low. In order to improve overall dietary behavior, systematic nutrition education programs reflecting sex difference should be developed. Dish preference data would be very useful in selecting substitutive dish for the s[hoof lunch menu to improve imbalanced diet. (J Community Nutrition3(2) : 69∼76, 2001)