• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2020

Dietary habits are known to be closely related not only to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but also to self-rated health (SRH). Consequently, there is a highly important lifestyle component in maintaining a healthy life. The aim of the present study was to determine the correlation between diverse dietary habits based on the Sasang constitutions (SC) and SRH. The data were collected from 2,984 participants who met the constitution pharmacology criteria and whose SC were clinically confirmed by SC professionals. Dietary habits were observed by assessing the regularity of diet, meal volume, and meal speed; single-answer questions were used for SRH. Fisher's exact/chi-square test and logistic regression were used to analyze the correlation between dietary habits depending on constitutional type and SRH. In association with constitutional SRH, the Taeum type is related to the amount of meal, the Soeum and Soyang types are related to the regularity of meal and meal volume. In the Taeum type, there was a significantly higher risk of lower SRH when meal volumes were irregular less than previous amounts. Irregular diet, as well as increased or decreased meal volume, negatively correlated with SRH in the Soeum type; in the Soyang type, irregular diet and decreased or irregular meal volume negatively affected SRH. This showed the presence of the different effects of dietary habits on health depending on constitution and also confirmed the association of the regularity of diet and meal volume based on constitution and the frequency of bad dietary habits with SRH. We suggest that personalized healthcare with adequate dietary improvement considering constitution is needed for health management or improvement.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.232-241
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• 2003

Purpose: To investigate the factors influencing health promoting behavior in college students and to provide a basic data for developing an effective health promotion program. Method: The subjects were 711 college students living in Jecheon city and were selected using a convenience sampling method. The instruments used in this study included the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile developed by Walker et al.(987). Perceived Health Status developed by Lawston et al. (1982). Self-Esteem scale developed by Rosenberg(1965), Self-Efficacy scale developed by Becker et al. (1993), and Health Locus of Control developed by Wallston et a1.(1978). The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression using SPSS/WIN program. Results: I) The mean score of health promoting behavior was 2.39 point out of 4. In terms of sub-domains of health promoting behavior, self-actualization(2.78) showed the highest mean score, followed by interpersonal support(2.75), stress management(2.38), nutrition(2.11), exercise(2.04), and health responsibility (1.97). 2) The health promoting behavior had significantly positive correlations with self-efficacy, powerful others health locus of control, internal health locus of control, chance health locus of control, and perceived health status. 3) In the relationship between general characteristics and health promoting behavior, health promoting behavior was significantly different by gender(t=2.17, p=.03), and financial status of parents (F=10.79. p= .00). 4) The most powerful predictor of health promoting behavior was self-efficacy. A combination of self-efficacy, self-esteem, powerful others health locus of control, and sex accounted for 40.4% of the total variance in health promoting behavior. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that health responsibility and exercise were the domains where the college student showed relatively lower scores than other domains, self-efficacy was the most important predictor of health promoting behavior. Therefore, it is suggested that health promoting programs should focus on health responsibility, and exercise. Nursing strategies that can enhance self-efficacy should also be developed in order to promote healthy lifestyles in college students.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.77-86
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to investigate self-perception and practices of health and appearance, health-related lifestyles and dietary behaviors of college students(137 male, 115 female) attending web class via the Internet. This cross-sectional survey was conducted by a self-administered questionnaire and data was analyzed by SPSS program. The average height, weight and BMI of the male and female college students were 174.4cm, 67.8kg, 22.3kg/㎡ and 162.3cm, 52.1kg, 19.8kg/㎡, respectively. Male collage students perceived their health statuses significantly better compared to female students. As for self-evaluation of anemia, female college students perceived significantly more anemia symptoms compared to male college students. Female college students perceived their body image to be obese compared to male college students. Underweight college students perceived significantly less healthy statuses, more anemia symptoms, and worse hair conditions compared to other college students. The rate of male students who exercise was significantly higher compared to that of female students. Male students reported significantly more smoking and drinking of alcohol compared to female students. The rate of female college students skipping meals was significantly higher than that of male college students. Frequency of eating out in female college students was significantly higher compared to that in male students. These results may provide some basic information in developing a nutrition education program for Korean college students using Internet.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.109-119
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to measure serum lipids concentrations by gender and age, and to investigated the relation of serum lipids levels to cigarette smoking alcohol intake exercise and menopausal status in Korean adults. The subjects consisted of 463 healthy adult(29- men and 173 women) volunteers who were visiting the health Promotion Center in the Asan Medical Center from July 1, 1994 to July 22, 1994 Subjects were ambulatory free-living people and aged 20- 80 years, Anthropometric measurement was performed and serum triglyceride(TG), HDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol(TChol) concentrations were measure by automatic system(Hitachi 736-40). Data on life styles were obtained using structured questionnaires issued by a trained interviewer, All data were statistically analyzed by PC-SAS(Version 6.04) Serum concentrations of triglyceride and total cholesterol was higher(p<0.05) in men than in women, and serum HDL-cholesterol was lower(p<0.05) in men than in women. The prevalence of hyperlipidemia(TG>170 mg/dL and TChol>220 mg /dL) was 12.5% in men and 4.1% in women. The levels of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol and BMI increased with age in women. The distribution curves of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol of women were located in lower increased more rapidly with aging than in men, The distribution curves of BMI of women increased with aging after the thirties, The BMI of women was located in higher levels than of men in their sixties. The serum concentration of triglyceride and total cholesterol of male current-smokers and non- smokers were significantly(p<0.05) higher than those of ex-smokers. The concentrations triglyceride the male current0drinkers were higher(p<0.05) than those of male non-drinkers. In non-smokers and non- drinkers, serum TG concentration were lower (p<0.05) than those of current-smokers and current-drinkers. In exercisers, the serum triglyceride concentration was significantly(p<0.05) lower than in non- exercisers. In postmenopausal woman BMI and serum concentrations of TChol, TG and LDL-Chol were significantly by age and gender and smoking alcohol drinking, exercise and menopausal staus might be a better indicator to predict serum lipids in both genders.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.354-364
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• 2013

This study was conducted to determine whether dietary factors could be related with serum adiponectin concentrations in 243, year-three female university students living in Seoul. The mean of body mass index (BMI) and adiponectin levels of all subjects were $20.17kg/m^2$ and $11.07{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. When the subjects were divided into 3 groups based on BMI (underweight: < 18.5, normal: $18.5{\leq}&lt;23$, overweight and obesity: ${\geq}23$), serum adiponectin levels in underweight group was significantly higher than that in 'normal' or 'overweight and 'obesity' groups. Also when the subjects were divided into two groups by mean adequacy ratio (MAR), serum adiponectin concentration of the high MAR group (MAR > 75) was slightly higher than that the low MAR group ($MAR{\leq}75$). Serum adiponectin levels showed a negative correlation with body weight (p < 0.01) or BMI (p < 0.001) and a positive correlation with intakes of of animal or total protein (please clarify) or vegetable protein.Among the dietary behaviors, serum adiponectin levels of females who answered 'yes' to the question about 'eating breakfast' was significantly higher than that of those who answered 'sometimes' or 'No' (p < 0.05) and serum adiponectin levels were higher among those who reported higher fruit intakes. Overall, our results suggested that healthy lifestyle including acceptable BMI, eating breakfast and higher fruit consumption might play an important role in the prevention of obesity and enhancement of blood adiponectin levels.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.119-127
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• 2018

Background: This study aimed to examine (1) the patterns of online health information search with respect to seeking and scanning, and (2) how online search, along with eHealth literacy, predicts perceived information usefulness in the context of diet and weight control. Methods: Online survey was conducted with 299 adults from the consumer panel recruited for the purpose of quality assessment of the Korean National Health Information Portal in 2016. We conducted paired sample t-test and multiple logistic regression to address the research questions. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 24.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and SAS ver. 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Results: Of the respondents, 38.8% were 'high seek-high scanners,' 35.8% were 'low seek-low scanners,' 13.0% were 'high seek-low scanners,' and 12.4% were 'low seek-high scanners.' eHealth literacy was a significant, positive predictor of online information scanning (odds ratio [OR], 2.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41-4.29), but not for online information seeking (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.00-3.05). With respect to perceived usefulness of online information seeking, online seeking (OR, 4.90; 95% CI, 2.19-11.00) and eHealth literacy (OR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.11-4.75) were significant predictors. Perceived usefulness of online scanning had a significant association with online scanning (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.08-5.22), but not with eHealth literacy. Conclusion: To increase the effectiveness of the health policy for online information search and related outcomes in the context of diet and weight control, it is important to develop education programs promoting eHealth literacy.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.197-204
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• 2009

This study aims to examine the realistic self-esteem of adolescents and perception of adolescents toward avatar in an attempt to understand basic aspects of their distinctive lifestyle fundamentally relative to the cyber culture on the web, given that the adolescent which is significant in forming self-esteem period plays an important role in the psychological aspect of adolescents. As for method of research, this study analyzed the self-esteem of users, their preference for avatar, and the perception toward avatar, in order to understand their psychological and social maturity. The result of study indicated that the increased self-esteem in reality among the adolescents led to the increased preference for avatar relative to the cyber culture on the web, which in turn increased the recognition of others' avatars. Those findings suggest that adolescents tend to assign self-esteem to avatar as great as themselves. Thus, it may be important to help adolescents form their self identity from the perspective psychological maturity, so that a sound and healthy web culture can be formed depending on the formation and level of self-esteem among adolescents.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.658-666
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The current study examined trends in adherence to dietary recommendations and compared the levels of adherence between diagnosed and undiagnosed subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Korea over the past 14 years. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data were collected from the 1998-2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES). Diagnosed diabetes was defined as giving a positive response to questions about awareness of the disease, a physician's diagnosis of diabetes, or medical treatment for diabetes, whereas undiagnosed diabetes was defined as having a fasting glucose level ${\geq}126mg/dl$. Assessment of adherence level was based on 6 components of dietary guidelines, considering meal patterns and intake levels of calories, carbohydrates, vegetable/seaweed, sodium, and alcohol. The participants received 1 point if they met the criteria for each of the 6 components, and the total possible score ranged from 0 to 6 points. Multivariate generalized linear regression was performed, taking into account the complex survey design. RESULTS: Among all diabetic patients aged 30 years or older, the proportion of diagnosed diabetes increased dramatically, from 40.9% in 1998 to 75.9% in 2012 (P for trend < 0.001). The overall adherence levels to dietary recommendations were low and did not significantly differ between diagnosed and undiagnosed subjects with T2DM for all survey years. Several improvements were observed, including increased adherence to maintaining sufficient vegetable/seaweed consumption (increased from 0.12 to 0.16 points) and limiting sodium intake (increased from 0.12-0.13 points to 0.19-0.24 points; P for trend < 0.001), while adherence to maintaining moderate alcohol consumption decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of data collected by the KNHANES indicates that Korean T2DM patients have poor adherence to dietary recommendations and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, regardless of disease awareness. This finding suggests that development of practical, evidence-based guidelines is necessary and that provision and expansion of educational programs for T2DM patients is critical after diagnosis.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2010

A cross-sectional survey was used to investigate the rates of overweight and obesity (BMI$\geq$25), and eating attitudes among college students. Data were collected at a large southeastern university. Adolescents (ages 18-25) self-reported weight and height (to calculate BMI), and, in addition to demographic information, completed the eating attitudes (EAT 26) scale to assess dieting tendencies. Significance of the mean BMI differences between gender and ethnic background were assessed by one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA). Chi-square was used to determine whether the rate of those with BMI$\geq$25 between gender and ethnic background was statistically significant. While 52.7% of the students' BMI were within the normal weight category, 15.2% were underweight, 21.3% were overweight, and 10.8% were obese. The rate of BMI$\geq$25 differed by gender and ethnicity, with males and African Americans having higher rates. About 12 % of the participants reported disturbed eating behavior, which is lower than previously reported. Even so, results support the generally held belief that disturbed eating attitudes and unhealthy dieting are common among college students, especially among females. At the same time, disturbed eating attitudes are not just the domain of young female students; about 10% of college males reported disturbed eating attitudes. Findings of this study call for obesity prevention/intervention and lifestyle modification outreach programs among college students. Weight status and unhealthy eating behaviors of college. students should be a concern to health care professionals. While obese young adults will likely remain obese throughout their adult life, excessive dieting among students, which is linked to eating disorders and other health hazards, does not provide healthy and adequate alternatives for maintaining a normal BMI. Implications for obesity prevention programs are discussed.

• 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.