• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.711-720
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The diet is an important route of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). However, few studies have investigated the association between dietary intake and EDC exposure levels among Koreans. In an earlier study, we showed that the bioactivity of serum aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligands (AhRLs) could be a surrogate biomarker to indicate exposure to EDCs and that they inhibit mitochondrial function. We also found that the mitochondria-inhibiting substances (MIS) in serum ascertained by intracellular adenosine triphosphate (MIS-ATP) and reactive oxygen species (MIS-ROS) levels could be biomarkers of exposure to EDCs, as they showed a strong correlation with AhRL and the levels of EDCs in the blood. Here, we investigated the association between the consumption of specific foods and surrogate serum biomarkers for EDCs, namely AhRL, MIS-ATP, and MIS-ROS, among middle-aged Korean adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 1,466 participants aged 45-76 yrs from the Ansung cohort of the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study were included. Food consumption, including that of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits, was measured using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: Fish intake was positively associated with AhRL (β = 0.0035, P = 0.0166), whereas cruciferous vegetable intake was negatively associated with AhRL (β = -0.0007, P = 0.0488). Cruciferous vegetable intake was positively associated with the MIS-ATP levels (β = 0.0051, P = 0.0420). A higher intake of fish was significantly associated with an increased risk of high AhRL (tertile: odds ratio [OR], 1.49; 95% confidence intervals (CIs), 1.08-2.06; P for trend = 0.0305). In addition, the second-highest tertile of cruciferous vegetable intake had lower odds of high AhRL than the lowest tertile (OR, 0.73; 95% CIs, 0.54-0.97), although no significant linear trend was observed. CONCLUSION: Consumption of different types of foods may be differentially associated with EDC exposure in middle-aged Korean adults.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify changes in physical activity, sleep quality, and quality of life (QOL) during COVID-19 in adults by age group. Methods: An online survey was conducted on a total of 160 participants who were divided into three groups by age; young adults, middle-aged adults, and old adults. The participants responded to the self-reported assessment of the impact of social distancing during COVID-19, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF36). Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and Pearson's correlation were used for data analysis. Results: There were significant differences between the three age groups in physical activity (p<0.05) and PSQI (p<0.01) and a post hoc analysis showed that the young adults' group had significantly higher physical activity than the old adults' group, while the old adults' group had significantly lower scores of PSQI (better sleep quality) than the others. The young adults' group showed a significant negative correlation between the stress from social distancing and QOL (r=-0.27, p<0.05) and between PSQI and QOL (r=-0.48, p<0.05). For the middle-aged adults' group, there was a significant negative correlation between PSQI and QOL (r=-0.53, p<0.05). The old adults' group showed a significant negative correlation between the stress from social distancing and physical activity (r=-0.35, p<0.05) and PSQI (r=-0.50, p<0.05), while there was a significant positive correlation between physical activity and PSQI (r=0.30, p<0.05) and QOL (r=0.30, p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study could be used as basic data for the promotion of physical and mental health in the post-COVID-19 era.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1225-1237
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Unhealthy dietary behaviors constitute one of risk the factors for chronic and cardiovascular diseases, which are prevalent in middle-aged and older populations. Milk and dairy products are high-quality foods and important sources of calcium. Calcium protects against osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, this study investigated the association of milk and dairy product consumption with cardio-cerebrovascular disease incidence in middle-aged and older Korean adults. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data were derived from the Ansan-Anseong cohort study, and a total of 8,009 individuals aged 40-69 years were selected and followed up biennially. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association of milk and dairy product consumption with cardio-cerebrovascular disease incidence. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up period of 96.5 person-months, 552 new cases of cardio-cerebrovascular disease were documented. Milk consumers (< 1 serving/day) exhibited a 23% lower risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease incidence than non-milk consumers (hazard ratio [HR], 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.97; P for trend = 0.842). High yogurt consumption was associated with a 29% lower incidence risk (≥ 0.5 servings/day vs. none: HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.53-0.96; P for trend = 0.049), whereas high ice cream consumption was associated with a 70% higher risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease incidence (≥ 0.5 servings/day vs. none: HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.01-2.88; P for trend = 0.070). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that less than one serving of milk and high yogurt consumption are associated with a lower cardio-cerebrovascular disease risk in the middle-aged and older populations.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2022

The purpose of the this study is to observe the effects of healthy adults' age on temporal features of speech and identify which could differentiate older and young adults. We examined speech rates(i.e., overall speaking rate, articulation rate), occurrence of pause, and duration of pause per utterance by utilizing the National Institute of Korean Language's open corpus. We selected a total of 30 healthy adults (10 young, 10 middle-aged, and 10 older adults) in this study. There were significant differences among the groups in the overall speaking rate, articulation rate, total occurrence of pause, the occurrence of pause between syntactic words, total duration of pause, and duration of pause between syntactic words. The older and middle-aged adults showed slower speech rates and longer and more frequent pause than young adults. But there were no significant differences among the three groups in terms of pause within syntactic word. The overall speaking rate significantly differentiated older adults from young adults. These findings suggested that the effect of speakers' age was reflected in gradual changes in the temporal features of their speech.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.272-283
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• 2007

This study was performed to delineate the relationship between lifestyle and nutritional risk factors associated with hypertension in representative middle-aged Korean population. Hypertension in this study is defined as hypertensive ($SBP{\geq}140mmHg\;or\;DBP{\geq}90mmHg$) adults without recognition of a disease state before a health exam. With data from the 1998 and 2001 National Health and Nutritional Survey, nutrient intakes of 6,112 adults, 40-64 years of age were calculated using food composition database and matched with health examination records by individual ID. After excluding those with extreme intake values, the number of final subjects included in the analysis was 5,200 (male 2,458, female 2,742). Using logistic regression method, socio-demographic data, lifestyle factors, and nutrient intakes were analyzed. Risky factors for hypertension revealed in this study were age, sex, BMI over 23, waist circumference, alcohol intake of more than 16g (male) or 8g (female). Regarding nutrient intakes, the intakes of highest quartile for energy (${\geq}2363.0kcal$) and protein (${\geq}90.2g$) were significantly associated with higher risk of hypertension after adjusting for age, sex, and other socio-demographic factors (OR=1.312(1.046-1.711), OR=1.488(1.194-1.854), respectively)). Although high intakes of sodium (${\geq}6604.0mg$) and phosphorus seemed to be risk factors of hypertension also before energy adjustment (OR=1.278(1.034-1.581), OR=1.280(1.024-1.600), respectively), only high intakes of energy and protein remained significant after adjustment. This study revealed that modifying risky lifestyles and dietary patterns, especially high energy intake, high protein intake, and high alcohol drinking, in middle-aged Korean adults could result in a prevalence decrease and/or prevention of hypertension.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.181-209
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• 2018

This study aims to examine the relationship between physical environment and depression symptoms of middle-aged and older adults in metro city. To verify correlates of community environment and depression, mediating effect model structured by social capital and sense of coherence(SOC) were used. For the purpose, a survey was conducted aged 48 - 70 from the local community centers and senior welfare centers in Seoul, and the total collected cases were 331. After data cleaning, total 309 cases were used. The structured equation modeling applied to analyse the direct and indirect effects. The findings were followed : First, the community environment did not directly affect level of depression. Second, in the indirect effect analysis, social capital was not statistically significant, thus indirect effect was confirmed only through the SOC. To be specific, the higher the satisfaction of the physical environment increased SOC, and decreased the level of depression. The results of this study shed lights on practical interventions to promote mental health of the middle-aged and older adults those who are exposed to poor community environment.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.313-321
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• 2019

This study investigated the themes of self-esteem memories in female adults. Self-esteem memories mean memories that are focused on evaluations of the self and the themes of them are classified as achievement or social relationship. Eighteen young adults(M=21.56), fifteen middle aged adults(M=54.13), and twenty older adults(M=74.35), totally fifty three female adults participated. They recalled 4 positive and 4 negative self-esteem memories respectively. The results showed that memories of positive and negative self-worth frequently focused on relationship themes, and this tendency was significant in positive memory of young adults and negative memory of middle aged adults. This suggests that social relationship is a dominant cultural value in Korea. Links between interpersonal relationship and positive/negative self-esteem memories are explained by culture, gender and developmental tasks. Further researches about the differences by sex and life scripts in the content of self-esteem memories are needed.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.457-467
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• 2020

This study aimed to investigate the relationship of life stress, self-esteem, social support, and marital conflict coping, and to identify the factors influencing marital conflict coping in middle-aged adults. The data were collected using questionnaires from 324 middle-aged adults who were in J city, from April to July 2019. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test, pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression with SPSS/WIN 24.0 version program. The study results showed that life stress and self-esteem affected negative marital conflict coping, which was 10.1% of the overall explanatory power. The self-esteem and social support affected positive marital conflict coping, which was 20.1% of the overall explanatory power. In other words, it has been confirmed that the higher level of life stress and the lower the level of social support, the more tend to act negative marital conflict coping. Also, the higher level of social support, the more tend to act positive marital conflict coping. Based on this study, it is necessary to develop and apply various programs for couples to participate together in order for middle-aged adults to avoid negative conflict coping and purse positive conflict coping action in a conflict situation that occurs during their married lives.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.256-265
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• 2023

Purpose: This study examined the definitions, diagnostic criteria, and measurements of sarcopenic obesity and identified effective exercise interventions that improve cardiometabolic outcomes in middle-aged and older adults, in whom the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity is increasing. Methods: This comprehensive review followed the principles of literature search, data extraction, and review, as described in the PRISMA 2009 guidelines. Results: The 11 articles included in this study presented different concepts of sarcopenic obesity. Exercise interventions for sarcopenic obesity varied in their effects. Resistance exercise improved muscle mass and physical function, while aerobic exercise primarily impacted obesity and cardiometabolic indicators. Combined exercise had mixed results across indicators. Conclusion: This study addressed a pressing public health concern in the context of an aging population, acknowledged the unique challenges of sarcopenic obesity, and attempted to clarify definitions and assessment methods, while identifying effective exercise interventions to reduce cardiometabolic risk. Sarcopenic obesity is a multifaceted condition with varying definitions and diagnostic criteria. Its association with cardiometabolic risk underscores the need for comprehensive assessments considering both muscle and obesity indicators. While exercise interventions hold promise for managing sarcopenic obesity, further research is required to establish effective strategies.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.60-70
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to promote an understanding of suicidal ideation and identify the factors that influence suicide ideation according to the life cycle of Korean adults. This study was a secondary analysis study using the Korea Health Panel 2016 data. Among adults over 19 years of age, 14,538 people with no missing values in suicidal ideation and influencing factors were classified into young adults (19-39 years old), middle-aged adults (40-64 years old), and the elderly (65 years or over). The data were analyzed by multiple logistic regression. The results showed that 2.9% (108 people) of young adults, 3.2% (181 people) of middle-aged adults, and 3.7% (80 people) of the elderly had suicide ideation over the past year. Factors influencing suicidal ideation by life cycle were anxiety, depression, drug use and quality of life for young adults, subjective health status, stress, anxiety, depression, drug use and quality of life for middle-aged adults. The factors affecting the elderly were body mass index, stress, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. Therefore, factors influencing suicidal ideation should be considered as a major factor for screening risk groups according to the life cycle, and differentiated intervention programs should be developed and provided to prevent and manage suicide in risk groups.