• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.88-95
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• 2021

This study compared the lifestyle patterns, dietary patterns, and health care practices of Korean middle-aged people by household type, and ultimately analyzed their relationship with different risk factors for the prevalence and severity of metabolic syndrome. We analyzed the data from 4,755 subjects who were from 40 to 64 years old, and gathered our sample from participants of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2013 to 2015. Our results showed that single-person households had lower economic income levels, lower subjective health statuses, and higher levels of food instability than households with two or more individuals. The incidence of metabolic syndrome was 1.64 times higher in single-person households than in households with two or more individuals. After adjusting for potential confounding factors (sex, age, education, household income, smoking status, health status, and dietary factors), single-person households showed 1.75 times higher hypertriglyceridemia ORs than non-single-person households. In the conclusion of our study, we suggest that middle-aged people in single-person households may be at greater risk for metabolic syndrome and hypertriglyceridemia.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.580-595
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• 2022

This study looked at the relationship between lifestyle choices and various substance addictions in young adults by applying the Relapse Prevention model of addiction. The data was obtained from a cross-sectional questionnaire (Depression and Anxiety Assessment Test) of 926 young adults aged 18~24 from 24 countries. Of these, 17.6% reported that they had a serious substance addiction, with alcohol addiction being the highest (11.2%), followed by nicotine (10.3%) and illicit drug (8.7%) usage. Results of chi-square test and logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between various lifestyle factors (exercise patterns, intake of dietary nutrients like tryptophan, folic acid, omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients, spiritual habits such as Bible reading and prayer) and addiction to various substances (illicit drugs, alcohol and nicotine). Depression was also found to be a significant factor influencing substance addiction. Interestingly, the risk of alcohol abuse was the highest at 9.870 (95% CI: 4.525-21.525) times among those who didn't have the habit of daily Bible reading. The highest risk of nicotine and illicit drug addiction was among those who consumed 'less than 1 serving' of dietary micronutrients per day compared to those who consumed '5 or more servings', with odds ratios of 9.606(95% CI: 2.726-30.111) and 8.642(95% CI: 2.022-37.378), respectively. These findings suggest that holistic lifestyle interventions may help prevent and reduce substance addiction in young adults.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1111-1117
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• 2014

Golestan province has a reputation for relatively high incidence rates of gastric cancer in Iran. Along with dietary, lifestyle and environmental influential factors, soil selenium and high levels of pesticide used may exert influence in this region. The present study was designed for modeling the influential predictors on incidence of gastric cancer in Golestan. All registered cases of gastric cancer from March 2009 to March 2010 (49 females and 107 males) were investigated. Data were gathered by both check list and researcher made questionnaire (demographic, clinical and lifestyle characteristics) and analysed using logistic regression. Mean (${\pm}SD$) age at diagnosis was $62.9{\pm}13.8$ years. CIR and ASR of gastric cancer showed 9.16 and 13.9 per 100,000 people, respectively. Based on univariate logistic regression, a history of smoking (OR= 2.076), unwashed hands after defecation (OR= 2.612), history of cancer in relatives (OR= 2.473), history of gastric cancer in first-degree relatives (OR= 2.278), numbers of gastric cancers in first-degree relatives (OR= 2.078), history of X-ray and dye exposure (OR= 2.395), history of CT scan encounter (OR= 2.915), improper food habits (OR= 3.320), specific eating behavior (OR= 0.740), consumption of probable high risk foods (OR= 2.942), charred flesh (OR= 1.945), and animal fat (OR= 2.716) were confirmed as a risk factors. Changes in lifestyle may be expected to increase gastric cancer incidence dramatically in the near future. Therefore, appropriate educational interventions should be designed and implemented by competent authorities.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.93-101
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• 2011

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolically obese, normal-weight (MONW) phenotype and the association between lifestyle factors and the risk of MONW in Korean adolescents. Methods: Normal-weight (BMI, 5th to 85th percentile) subjects with ${\geq}1$ metabolic abnormalities were categorized as MONW phenotype. Data from adolescents aged 12 to 18 years who have participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 1998 (n=751) and 2008 (n=455) were analyzed. Physical activity and dietary intakes were assessed. Results: The prevalence of hypertension and hyperglycemia in 2008 decreased compared with that in 1998 (P<0.001) but the prevalence of abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL did not changed. The overall prevalence of MONW in Korean adolescents declined over 10 years (P<0.001). Adolescent boys and girls engaging regular exercise significantly increased over 10 years (P<0.01). Physically active adolescents had a lower risk of being MONW in 1998. Dietary intake patterns were not associated with a risk of MONW. Conclusions: The prevalence of MONW among Korean adolescents declined over 10 years which may be due to the decreased prevalence of hypertension and hyperglycemia. The risk of MONW would be lower in individuals who are physically active.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.426-435
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Urbanization and lifestyle changes have resulted in nutrition transition. Over-nutrition causes obesity increase, although malnutrition still exists. This phenomenon is called a double burden of malnutrition (DBM). This study was conducted to confirm the existence of DBM and to investigate the dietary factors related to DBM in Indonesian adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data for the subjects (51 men and 89 women) who are the adults resided in Malang, Indonesia were collected between July 17 and August 14, 2017, by using questionnaire. Height, weight, waist and hip circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose, total cholesterol, and hemoglobin were also measured for the subjects. RESULTS: The average age of the subjects was 47.2 years. The average height, weight, and body mass index for men were 160.08 cm, 62.6 kg and $25.45kg/m^2$, respectively, and those for women were 148.74 cm, 58.09 kg, and $26.21kg/m^2$, respectively. Of the subjects, 3.6% were underweight, 24.3% were normal or healthy weight, while 72.2% were overweight and obese. Analysis of the dietary intakes revealed high for cereal (7.73 points), but very low for milk (0.25 points) and fruits (0.51 points). Dietary diversity was very few overall (< 5). The occurrence of both anemia (23.6%) and chronic diseases such as hypertension (57.1%), diabetes (12.1%), and hypercholesterolemia (3.6%) was considerably high. The existence of DBM was confirmed by 16.4% of the subjects. DBM was observed significantly higher in women than in men. Dietary diversity and DBM occurrence were inversely correlated. On average, the number of chronic diseases was 1.08 in men and 1.79 in women. Dietary diversity inversely affected systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: DBM existed in adults in Malang, Indonesia due to inadequate dietary intakes, and a high rate of chronic diseases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3293-3298
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• 2013

Background: The study investigated the influence of culturally-based health beliefs on engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviour. Specifically, the study compared levels of engagement between Western and Chinese youth in Australia and assessed the extent to which culture-specific attributions about the causes of illness, and health beliefs, predict engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviour. Materials and Methods: Ninety-four Western and 95 Chinese (N=189; Mean Age=20.8 years, SD=3 years) young adults completed an online questionnaire. Predictor variables were cultural health beliefs measured by the Chinese Cultural Views on Health and Illness scale (CCVH, Liang et al., 2008), and illness attributions beliefs measured by the Cause of Illness Questionnaire (CIQ, Armstrong and Swartzman, 1999). Outcomes variables were levels of engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviour. Results: Results indicated that Chinese participants have a significantly lower exercising rate and healthy dietary habits compared to the Western sample. Moreover, Chinese participants were found to believe more strongly than Westerners that cancer was associated with factors measured by the Traditional-Chinese-Model (TCM). Finally, the observed relationship between cultural health beliefs and physical inactivity was mediated by attributions of illness, in particular to the supernatural subscale, with the Sobel Test showing a significant mediation (z=-2.63, p=0.004). Conclusions: Mainstream approaches to encourage healthy lifestyles are unlikely to be effective when educating Chinese youth. Instead, health promotion programs should attempt to address the illness attribution beliefs and educate Chinese youth about the role of diet and exercise in prevention of diseases such as cancer.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.251-257
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: There are few studies that forecast the future prevalence of obesity based on the predicted prevalence model including contributing factors. The present study aimed to identify factors associated with obesity and construct forecasting models including significant contributing factors to estimate the 2020 and 2030 prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Panel data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and national statistics from the Korean Statistical Information Service were used for the analysis. The study subjects were 17,685 male and 24,899 female adults aged 19 years or older. The outcome variables were the prevalence of obesity (body mass index ${\geq}25kg/m^2$) and abdominal obesity (waist circumference ${\geq}90cm$ for men and ${\geq}85cm$ for women). Stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to select significant variables from potential exposures. RESULTS: The survey year, age, marital status, job status, income status, smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep duration, psychological factors, dietary intake, and fertility rate were found to contribute to the prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity. Based on the forecasting models including these variables, the 2020 and 2030 estimates for obesity prevalence were 47% and 62% for men and 32% and 37% for women, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggested an increased prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity in 2020 and 2030. Lifestyle factors were found to be significantly associated with the increasing trend in obesity prevalence and, therefore, they may require modification to prevent the rising trend.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.312-318
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Due to recent changes in social structure, single-person households are on the rise worldwide and therefore the interest in the quality of life of singles is increasing, but the research on the relationships related to their diet-related quality of life is scarce. This research analyzes the structural relations in the effect of convenience food satisfaction and quality of life according to dietary style of Korean, Japanese and Chinese singles. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The targets of this study were Korean, Japanese, and Chinese singles, identified as adults between the ages of 25 and 54, having economic capabilities or working and living alone, either legally or in actuality having no partner. A statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS12.0 for Windows and SEM using AMOS 5.0 statistics package. The reliability of these findings was supported by a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.6 and higher for all the factors. In an attempt to study the level of satisfaction with convenience food in accordance to dietary style and the quality of life of singles, a structural equation model was constructed and analyzed. RESULTS: Of the three countries, regarding the effect of dietary style on singles' quality of life, the convenience-oriented style was found to have a negative effect on Korean singles' overall quality of life, but a positive effect on Japanese singles' overall quality of life, and a negative effect on Chinese singles' positive psychological aspect of quality of life. In addition, although Chinese singles have a high level of interest in health, they have an overall high level of satisfaction regarding fast food and its nutritional value. CONCLUSIONS: The number of singles in Korea, Japan, and China has been consistently increasing in recent years, and there is a need for continuous interest in their healthy dietary lifestyles in terms of convenience, economy, and taste.

• Journal of Korea Association of Health Promotion
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2005

We compared three nations' diets on Year 2000 Korean, American and Mediterranean in the aspect of contribution of each to the development of cardiovascular diseases. We searched all the available evidences published. Korea has a very low incidence of cardiovascular diseses compared to the other countries even though they are increasing recently. In addition to many risk factors to these defenerative diseases such as diabetes millitus, hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, sedentary lifestyle, etc., dietary factors are also contributing a lot to their development. High calorie, trans fatty acids, cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, alcohol, salt intakes are examples. Korean diet has superiority of low calorie, low fat, good fat proportion, high omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables, beans, and garlic and onions These are believed to contribute to low incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Korea. Korean diets was also found to have some issues for improvement such as high salt, low calcium, and higher use of barbequed meats. We concluded Korean people stay better off with Korean diet with some modifications.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2897-2901
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• 2013

Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. Although certain dietary factors and lifestyles have been suggested to be associated with gastric carcinogenesis, there have been few investigations focusing on rural areas. A case-control study was therefore carried out to investigate the risk factors of gastric cardia cancer (GCC) in rural areas of Linzhou. A total of 470 newly diagnosed cases of GCC and 470 healthy controls were included. Face-to-face interviews were conducted, using a uniform questionnaire containing questions on demographics, per capita income, living habits, dietary habits and family history of tumors. The relationship between putative risk factors and GCC was assessed by odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) derived from conditional logistic regression model by the COXREG command using SPSS 12.00. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate simultaneously the effects of multiple factors and other potential confounding factors. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that smoking (OR=1.939, 95%CI:1.097-3.426), alcohol drinking (OR=2.360, 95%CI: 1.292-4.311), hot food consumption (OR=2.034, 95%CI: 1.507-2.745), fast eating (OR=1.616, 95%CI: 1.171-2.230), mouldy food (OR=4.564, 95%CI: 2.682-7.767), leftover food (OR=1.881. 95%CI: 1.324-2.671), and family history of tumor (OR=2.831, 95%CI: 1.588-5.050) were risk factors for GCC. High per capita income (OR=0.709, 95%CI: 0.533-0.942), high education level (OR=0.354, 95%CI: 0.163-0.765), consumption of fresh fruits (OR=0.186, 95%CI: 0.111-0.311) and vegetables (OR=0.243, 95%CI: 0.142-0.415), and high BMI (OR=0.367, 95%CI: 0.242-0.557) were protective factors for GCC. Our data indicate that unhealthy lifestyle and dietary habits might be important contributors to GCC in this population.