• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.441-454
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• 2021

Objectives: This study investigated the association between the frequency and pattern of eating alone and the mental health status according to region in Korean adults. Methods: The data of 10,040 Korean adults aged ≥ 19 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2017 and 2019 were used. Participants were divided into 4 groups based on their frequency of eating alone: none (all meals together), 1, 2, and 3 meals/day alone. The regions were divided into urban and rural areas. Mental health status was assessed by stress recognition, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Multivariable logistic regressions were conducted to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) on the association of the frequency and pattern of eating alone with poor mental health after controlling for covariates. Results: Among Korean adults, 74.1% ate more than one meal a day alone. Individuals having 3 meals a day alone tended to be less educated, single, single person households, or living in urban areas (all P < 0.05). In rural areas, those having 3 meals/day alone had higher odds of stress recognition (AOR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.02-2.35) than those having all meals together. In urban areas, individuals eating alone 3 times/day had higher odds of stress recognition (AOR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.31-1.96), depressive symptoms (AOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.23-2.12), and suicidal ideation (AOR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.42-3.22) compared to those having all meals together. Urban residents having dinner alone had higher odds of depressive symptoms (AOR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.05-1.58) and suicidal ideation (AOR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.19-2.33) than those having dinner with others. Conclusions: Our findings showed that the frequency and patterns of eating alone were differentially associated with increased odds of poor mental health according to region of residence. Nutrition education is needed for those frequently eating alone, particularly those living in urban areas, to highlight the advantages of eating together and to ensure that they have balanced and healthy meals even if they eat alone.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.3882-3888
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• 2015

The present study was conducted to assess the relationship between obesity and abdominal obesity and Parathyroid hormone (PTH) in adults aged 50 or older (n=3,305) using 2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data, which represents national data in Korea. Key study results were as follows: First, the PTH levels increased significantly with an increase in Body mass index (BMI) (p=0.003), shown by sIAD levels after adjusted the variables that affect sIAD levels (age, gender, SBP, DBP, and 25(OH)D). These were $66.25{\pm}0.89ng/dL$ for Normal weight (BMI, < $23.0kg/m^2$), $67.83{\pm}1.07 ng/dL$ for Overweight (BMI, $23.0-24.9kg/m^2$), $70.71{\pm}0.94ng/dL$ for Obesity (BMI,${\geq}25.0kg/m^2$). Second, the PTH level of abdominal obesity group ($69.30{\pm}0.80ng/dL$) was significantly higher (p=0.017) than non-abdominal obesity group ($66.63{\pm}0.74ng/dL$). In conclusion, BMI and waist measurement are positively associated with the PTH levels in Korean adults.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.42-55
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• 2008

Purpose: A new health policy, referred to as the National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children, was launched in November 2007 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and National Health Insurance Corporation in Korea. We have developed a nutrition-counseling program that was incorporated into this project. Methods: We reviewed the nutritional guidelines published by The Korean Pediatric Society and internationally well-known screening programs such as Bright Future in the United States. We also reviewed the recent Korean national surveys on nutritional issues, including the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and the 2005 National Survey of Physical Body and Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents. The development of questions, pamphlets, computer programs, and manuals for doctors was carried out after several meetings of researchers and governmental officers. Results: We summarized the key nutritional issues according to age, including breastfeeding in infants, healthier complementary feeding, and prevention of iron deficiency anemia, establishment of healthier diets, as well as dietary prevention of overweight children with an emphasis on physical exercise. We have constructed a new Korean nutrition questionnaire and an anticipatory guidance program based on the primary care schedule of visits at 4, 9, 18, 30, and 60 months of age. Five to eight questions were asked at each visit and age-matched pamphlets for parents and guidelines for doctors were provided. Conclusion: We developed a nutrition-counseling program based on recent scientific evidence for Korean infants and children. Further research on this national program for screening the nutritional problems in detail and setting the therapeutic approaches may help identify areas of success as well as those that need further attention.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.647-656
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• 2017

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between vitamin D level and dyslipidemia in Korean adults aged 19 years and older. The data for analysis were obtained from the sixth Korea National Health Nutrition Examination Survey 2013 and 2014. Result: This study showed that 74.4% of the specified adult population had vitamin D deficiency. Moreover, the prevalence of dyslipidemia was found to be 39.6% in the same population. Dyslipidemia differed significantly according to gender (p<0.001), age (p<0.001), smoking status (p<0.001), subjective health status (p<0.001), BMI (p<0.001), blood pressure (p<0.001), FBS (p<0.001), physical activity (p<0.001), and vitamin D level (p<0.001). When vitamin D deficiency was less than 20.0 ng/mL, there was a significant risk of dyslipidemia with an odds ratio of 1.29 (95% Cl, 1.11-1.51). The relationship between vitamin D level and a diagnosis index of dyslipidemia with controlled status of physical activity was statistically significant; in Korean adults, the odds ratio for total cholesterol was 1.41 (95% CI, 1.04-1.81) and for triglyceride was 1.36 (95% CI, 1.11-1.66). Conclusion: Our results showed the relationship between vitamin D level and dyslipidemia was significant in Korean adults, and total cholesterol and triglycerides, which are indicators of dyslipidemia, was significant. Future studies, such as a more systematic cohort study investigating the relationship between vitamin D level and dyslipidemia may be helpful in confirming the causal relationship between vitamin D and dyslipidemia.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.90-98
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• 2022

Background: Integrated management of general, mental, and oral health is necessary to improve an individual's quality of life. This study aimed to identify the effects of mental and oral health behaviors on metabolic syndrome. Methods: A total of 4,227 Korean adults aged 20 years or older were selected as study subjects using raw data from the first year (2019) of the 8th period of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). A complex sample chi-square test and a complex sample logistic regression analysis were performed using the PASW Statistics ver. 18.0 program. Results: The effect on metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in male than in 1.833 times in male, 2.914 times in 30~49 years old, and 3.855 times in 50~64 years old, and 3.929 times in people over 65 years old compared to 20~29 years old, and compared to those with a college degree or higher, those with a middle school degree or lower are 2.116 times, those with lower income levels are 1.507 times higher, those with middle-lower are 1.359 times higher, those with middle-high are 1.401 times. Compared to non-smokers, smokers were 1.570 times higher than non-smokers and compared to those without speech problem and chewing difficulty, they were 1.717 times and 1.397 times higher, respectively and 1.973 times higher in those with 0~1 brushing times per day. Mental health did not affect prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Conclusion: It is necessary to improve maintain a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of metabolic syndrome. It is necessary to establish effective dental hygiene customized education and an efficient health management system at the national level that can induce improvement of oral health behavior for the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2011

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feeding patterns, use of dietary supplements, and nutrient intake of Korean toddlers. Methods: We used data for 930 toddlers who participated in the 4th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) from 2007 to 2009. Feeding patterns and use of dietary supplements were assessed using standardized questionnaires, and nutrition intake was assessed using the 24 hr recall method. Results: In 2007~2009, 48.7% of toddlers used dietary supplements. Most parents (95.4%) initiated a regime of dietary supplements for their children following the advice of friends or relatives. Only 0.4% of parents followed the advice given by their doctors for dietary supplements use. In the survey of nutrient intake for toddlers, the prevalence of inadequate calcium intake was 53.9% for subjects aged 1 year, 55.2% for 2 years and 65.6% for subjects aged 3 years. The prevalence of inadequate iron intake was 52.0% for subjects aged 1 year, 48.7% for 2 years and 48.4% for subjects aged 3 years. In the survey performed on feeding patterns of toddlers during the infant period, mixed feeding accounted for 57.4%, breast feeding for 32.2%,and formula feeding for 10.4%. Sixty-five percent of toddlers began weaning between 4 and 6 months. Conclusions: This study indicated that a number of toddlers were at risk of inadequate calcium and iron intake. The role of professionals in counseling for qualified dietary intake and dietary supplement use is therefore necessary for Korean toddlers.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.29-38
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to examine the spouse effects on depressive symptom and suicidal thinking among the elderly aged 65 and over in Korea. The subjects selected from the database of the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES IV) conducted by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2009. Those who were female, older, lower educated, or poorer were more likely to live alone than their counterparts respectively. The elderly living alone experienced depressive symptom as 2.0 times(OR=2.004, 95% CI=1.433, 2.803) as, and suicidal thinking as 1.6 times(OR=1.567, 95% CI=1.111, 2.211) as the elderly couples did, adjusting for socio-economic factor, health status factors, and health behaviors factors. As for the male subgroup, the elderly living alone experienced depressive symptom as 4.0 times(OR=3.997, 95% CI=2.066, 7.732) as, and suicidal thinking as 3.2 times(OR=3.181, 95% CI=1.535, 6.592) as the elderly couples did. On the other hands, there was no significant difference in depressive symptoms and suicidal thinking between the female elderly living alone and couples. The authors suggested policy interventions to promote the mental health of the male elderly living alone.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.110-122
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• 2017

This study is to examine moderating effects of income and mediating effects of health related quality of life in the relationship between depression experience and suicidal behavior among menopausal middle-aged women in Korea. This study employed 1,182 middle-aged women aged 40 to 60 of the third year (2015) data from the 6th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES VI). The results are that first, depression experience were significantly associated with suicidal behavior. Secondly, health related quality of life appeared to mediate the relationship between depression experience and suicidal behavior. Thirdly, income was significantly moderated the relationship between depression experience and suicidal behavior in relatively low income group below average income after controlling for mediating effects of health related quality of life. These results showed that there is a need to enhance health policy for mental health care in middle-aged women and to expand intervention program for improvement of health related quality of life, and especially, intervention for improving mental health of low-income group.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of lifestyle factors on metabolic syndrome (MS) among Korean adults ($age{\geq}20$). Methods: A total of 7,798 subjects (weighted subjects=37,215,961) were recruited from the 2009 Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV-3). Data were analyzed by t-test, ${\chi}^2$-test, and logistic regression in consideration of strata, cluster and weight as national data using the SAS 9.1 program. Results: The prevalence of MS by definition of AHA/NHLBI and waist circumference cutoff points for Koreans was 22.4%. The mean clinical MS score for MS patients was 3.4, but the mean score for the non-MS group was 1.2 out of 5.0. Among the lifestyle factors, smoking (OR=1.024), stress ($0.546{\leq}OR{\leq}0.587$) and drinking (OR=1.005) had significant influence on the MS risk and MS scores, but exercise did not. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that further research is necessary on the effect of lifestyle factors on MS risk and nurses should focus on effective programs about smoking, stress and drinking for the prevention and reduction of MS risk.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.225-232
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• 2016

This paper aimed to study on the relevance of mental health and oral health. The subjects were recruited total 3,261 elderly of over 40 years old, using the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(KNHANES). All the collected data were analyzed by chi-square test, t-test, and logistic regression using SPSS 23.0 version. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship of sleeping time or stress and the number of remaining teeth, and 95% confidence intervals were computed. Sleeping time odds ratio(OR) of the number of remaining teeth was 1.52 (95% confidence interval: 1.074-2.135) and Stress odds ratio(OR) was 2.39 (95% confidence interval: 1.855-3.090), but there is no statistically significant difference after adjusted age, gender and other variables.