• 비만대사연구학술지
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.33-38
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• 2022

Although it has been confirmed that excessive body fat increases health risks and all-cause mortality, several epidemiological studies have reported that overweight or obesity in patients with chronic diseases and in older adults is advantageous with respect to mortality. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the biological basis of this obesity paradox. The marked heterogeneity of findings observed across studies and the possibility of systematic errors in these studies have cast doubt on the actual existence of the obesity paradox. However, the obesity paradox questioned the validity of body mass index as the best indicator for obesity in terms of predicting its comorbidities and urges clinicians to focus more on changes in body composition and related metabolic derangements, rather than body weight per se.

• Journal of health informatics and statistics
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.255-266
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• 2018

Objectives: This study compared the risk of preterm birth and low birth weight between native-born and foreign-born women. Methods: By Using the birth registration data, every woman who gave birth between 2010 and 2016 in Korea was included in the analysis. Duration from marriage to pregnancy was measured by month and multiple socioeconomic and demographic characteristics were controlled. Preterm birth (<37 weeks) and low birth weight (<2.5 kg) were used for outcome variables. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used for data analysis with Stata. Results: The risks of preterm birth and low birth weight for native-born and foreign-born women differed according to the duration of marriage or birth order. For the first infant, foreign-born women were more likely to have pereterm birth or low birth weight than the native-born in the early stage of marriage but nativeborn women had higher risks than the foreign-born in the middle and later stage of marriage. For the second infant, foreign-born women were less likely to have pereterm birth or low birth weight than the native-born regardless of the duration of marriage. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrates that the risk of preterm birth and low birth weight for foreign-born women is concentrated on the early stage of marriage. Institutional and cultural supports should be given to foreign-born women to help their early settlement in the Korean society.