• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.61 no.5
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• pp.135-149
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• 2018

Growth charts are curves or tables that facilitate the visualization of anthropometric parameters, and are widely used as an important indicator when evaluating the growth status of children and adolescents. The latest version of the Korean National Growth Charts released in 2007 has raised concerns regarding the inclusion of data from both breastfed and formula-fed infants, higher body mass index (BMI) values in boys, and smaller 3rd percentile values in height-for-age charts. Thus, new growth charts have been developed to improve the previous version. The 2006 World Health Organization Child Growth Standards, regarded as the standard for breastfed infants and children, were introduced for children aged 0-35 months. For children and adolescents aged 3-18 years, these new growth charts include height-for-age, weight-for-age, BMI-for-age, weight-for-height, and head circumference-for-age charts, and were developed using data obtained in 1997 and 2005. Data sets and exclusion criteria were applied differently for the development of the different growth charts. BMI-for-age charts were adjusted to decrease the 95th percentile values of BMI. Criteria for obesity were simplified and defined as a BMI of ${\geq}95th$ percentile for age and sex. The 3rd percentile values for height-for-age charts were also increased. Additional percentile lines (1st and 99th) and growth charts with standard deviation lines were introduced. 2017 Korean National Growth Charts are recommended for the evaluation of body size and growth of Korean children and adolescents for use in clinics and the public health sector in Korea.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.53-75
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the "Authentic Parental Competence Scale" for mothers with school-age children. Based on a literature review, the study found that 'authentic parental competence' could be divided into parenting comperence, self-system competence, and social competence. In addition, the scale comprised three factors consisting of 43. The study collected data through behavior event interview(BEI), focus group interview(FGI), and three times Delphi investigation. The scale for mothers of school-age children consisted of a total of 129 items, which included three different dimensions (knowledge, skill, and attitude), and four factors were extracted from factor analysis following a survey of 362 mothers. The factors were labeled as "ability of developmental positive parenting," "ability of playing a role as a citizen and making social contributions," "ability of self-understanding and interpersonal relations," and "ability of self-growth and self-determination." In addition, the results revealed that the "Authentic Parental Competence Scale" showed an appropriate level of construct validity, reliability of the scales, distribution of item response, and item discrimination.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.27-43
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• 2005

Purpose： The purpose of this study was to estimate obesity rate among mentally disabled children in six public schools in Korea. Furthermore, this study identified several factors that correlated with these children's obesity. The results of this study can help identify mentally disabled children who are at an increased risk for obesity and can be used to promote good health in this population. Methods： 1,102 subjectsfrom six public special schools were classified 4 groups who assessed for BMI for age-gender specific reference chart(1998) based on our previous data. Moreover, 207 parents were surveyed to identify predisposing factors for children's obesity, including characteristics of the children and parents, socioeconomic factors, children's eating habits, and children's exercise habits. Results： The prevalence of obesity among the 1,102 mentally disabled children was 17.3%. There was a statistically significant correlation between obesity and factors, such as age, maternal education, parents' perceptions about their child's obesity, frequency of breakfast, and exercise habits. Each of these factors was determined to have a statistically significant influence on obesity when all other factors were controlled in a multivariate analysis with multiple logistic regression analysis. Conclusions： Parental perceptions had an especially strong impact on the weight of their mentally disabled child. This is presumably due to the great influence that parents have on the lifestyles of their children, including dietary habits and frequency of exercise. Furthermore, the rate of obesity was directly proportional to the age of the child. The results of this study strongly indicate the need for preemptive health education programs that stress weight management for mentally disabled elementary school students.

• MALSORI
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• no.51
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• pp.57-69
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• 2004

Comprehension monitoring is a process of message evaluation and a very important skill of communication. Comprehension monitoring is a necessary language skill in classroom, as it is important for children to assess their own understanding of task instructions and teaching content. The present study investigated comprehension monitoring skill of children with Specific Language Impairment(SLI) compared to age-matched children and language-matched children. 18 vignettes and 6 displays were constructed. Children were asked to choose one object or 'DK' card from a display after the children listened to the vignettes. The results showed that children with SLI didn't have problem in comprehending unambiguous utterance and using prior statement. However, they had problem in monitoring comprehending ambiguous utterance compared age-matched children. Their performance were similar to language matched younger children. With respect to their performance, several possible explanations were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.51-72
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to compare the school readiness between children in low-income families and children in non-low-income families. In particular, it examined the influence of family's income levels child's age and gender upon children's school readiness. The subjects were 184 children that were 4~5 years. The collected data were analysed using t-tests, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, and Scheffe test. The results showed that the school readiness of children from non-low-income families's was higher than children from low-income families. The school readiness was explained significantly by the interaction effect of children's age and gender. However, there was no difference in children's school readiness according to the participation in Dream Start. The findings suggest that the level of income is the key factor in differences of children's school readiness. Finally, the importance of social support of low-income children and development of effective Dream Start programs was discussed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.808-819
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to examine the stressors and coping strategies of school -age children and to explore the relationship between stressful life events and health symptoms and the effects of coping and trait anxiety which is theoretically considered to mediate the relationship between stress and health symptom. The study subjects consisted of 639 elementary school children in the fourth to sixth grade living in Seoul. Of the 639 subjects, 348 were boys and 291 were girls. The mean age was 11.35 (SD=.86). The Feel Bad Scale(FBS), Schoolager's Coping Strategy Inventory(SCSI), Spielberger's Trait Anxiety Scale for Children(STAIC), and Health Symptom Questionnaire (HSQ) were adapted for this study. A pilot study was undertaken to ascertain the reliability and validity of the instruments. The Cronbach alphas of FBS, SCSI, STAIC and HSQ were from .81 to .92. The Researcher and a research assistant visited the school and data were collected in the class using the questionnaire method after an explanation of the purpose and procedures was given to the children. Data collection was done during the period between Nov.25 to Dec.19, 1995. Using the SAS statistical program, percentages, t-test, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression were used for data analysis. The result are as follows : 1. The mean score for the FBS was 204.79(range : 48-472) and there was a significant difference according to grade. The most severe stressors perceived by children were parental divorce and death or illness of family members. The most frequently experienced stressful life events were conflict with siblings and being home alone. 2. The mean score for the SCSI was 57.36(range : 9-118) and there was a significant difference according to grade. The most frequently used, and perceived as helpful, coping strategies were distraction and cognitive activities. 3. The mean score for the HSQ were 20.7(range : 0-81) and there were significant differences according to grade and sex. The percentage of the children answering that they perceived their health state as not good was 3.9%. 4. The mean score for the STAIC was 33.76 and there were significant differences according to grade and sex. 5. There was a significant relationship between stressful life events and health symptoms ( r=.53, p<.01). Also, Stressful life events were postively related with coping strategies(r=.39, p<.01). Trait anxiety was highly correlated with health symptoms(r=.72, p<.01). 6. To examine the multivariate effects of the variables to health symptoms, multiple regression was performed. Stressful life events, coping, trait anxiety, and health concerns were identified as significant variables. Explanation of the health symptoms by these variables was 56.78%. The study revealed that stressful life events correlated with health symptoms in school-age children and coping and trait anxiety had mediating effects on this relationship. The implication for nursing is that there is a need to develop supportive interventions for high risk population to decrease health problems due to stress. Also, it is recommended that a study be conducted to explore protective factors for the prevention of health problems in children.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.82-97
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• 1990

The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the developmental level of children's concept of gender by age and sex. (2) children's sex-specific behaviors by age and sex, and (3) children's sex-specific behaviors by developmental level of gender constancy. The subjects were 164 children (forty 3-year-olds, forty-three 5-year-olds, forty 7-year-olds and forty-one 9-year olds) with nearly equal numbers of boys and girls. They were selected from two kindergartens and one elementary school. A quasi experiment was carried out with the procedures described by Slaby and Frey (1976) to measure children's developmental level of the concept of gender constancy. Two experiments were carried out to observe children's sex-specific behaviors: one for children's toy choice behavior and the other for children's interaction with their peers. Statistical methods adopted for data analysis were frequencies. percentiles, mean. and $X^2$. It was found that children's sex-specific behaviors were different according to their developmental level of gender constancy. Children's developmental level of gender constancy was significantly different according to their age, but there was no difference according to their sex. Children's toy-choice behavior was significantly different according to their age and sex. Children's sex-specific behaviors were significantly different according to their concept of gender constancy.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.232-240
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• 2008

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the nutritional status and characteristics related to malnutrition in children less than five years of age in Nghean, Vietnam. Methods: In this study, which was conducted in November 2007, 650 child-mother pairs were selected using a two-stage cluster sampling methodology. A structured questionnaire was then administered to the mothers in their home settings. Anthropometric measurement was then used to determine if children were underweight (weight-for-age), wasting (weight-for-height) and stunting (height-for-age) based on reference data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)/World Health Organization (WHO). Logistic regression analysis was then used to describe the hierarchical relationships between potential risk factors and malnutrition. Results: The mean Z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height were -1.46 (95% CI=-1.57, -1.35), -1.44 (95% CI=-1.56, -1.32) and -0.71 (95% CI=-0.82, -0.60), respectively. Of the children included in this study, 193 (31.8%) were underweight, 269 (44.3%) were stunting and 72 (11.9%) were wasting. Region of residence, the mother's level of education and occupation, household size, number of children in the family, weight at birth and duration of exclusive breastfeeding were found to be significantly related to malnutrition. Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that malnutrition is still an important problem among children less than five years of age in Nghean, Vietnam. In addition, maternal, socio-economic and environment factors were found to be significant factors for malnutrition among children under five.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.264-276
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to propose and to test a predictive model that could explain and predict the health promotion behavior of obese school-age children in Korea. Methods: Participants for this study were 365 students from 13 elementary schools located in Jeonbuk Province, Korea. The data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 program and Amos 7.0 program. Results: The results verified the factors that influence health promotion behavior of the participants. Important direct factors were prior health-related behavior, perceived self-efficacy, and commitment to a plan of action and indirect factors were perceived barrier and activity-related effect. These factors explained 75.3% of variance in the participants' health promotion behavior. The proposed model was concise and extensive in predicting health promotion behavior of the participants. Conclusion: Findings may provide useful assistance in developing effective nursing interventions for maintaining and promoting health promotion behavior in obese school-age children.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.181-193
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• 2017

Purpose: This is a qualitative descriptive study with the purpose of identifyng the health problems and related factors of socially vulnerable school-age children in Seoul, South Korea. Methods: Two focus group interviews and two individual interviews were conducted with eleven participants. They were two class teachers, three school nurses and two daycare teachers working at elementary schools and three social workers and a welfare worker working at community childcare centers. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The identified psychosocial problems were 'distracting and excessive behavior', 'depression and helplessness,' 'aggression and violent behaviors', and 'internet overdependence'. The revealed physical health problems were 'poor hygiene', 'obesity', and 'gastrointestinal problems'. In addition, the fact that physical and psychosocial problems are closely inter-linked was reaffirmed through practical examples. Meanwhile, socioeconomic, family environmental, social experiential and individual factors were found to affect children's health. Relationships within a family or a peer group and healthy lifestyle were considered critical issues to deal with in order to improve the childrens' health status. Conclusion: It was proved that socially vulnerable school-age children have various physical and mental health problems due to multiple factors. Therefore, it is required to design nursing approaches that help them achieve optimal health status.