• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.622-634
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• 2013

The multi-origin of obesity and its associated diseases made it's a complex area of biomedical science research and severe health disorder. From the 1970s to onwards this health problem turned to an epidemic without having any report of declining yet and it created a red alert to the health sector. Meanwhile, many animal models have been developed to study the lethal effect of obesity. In consequence, many drugs, therapies and strategies have already been adopted based on the findings of those animal models. However, many complicated things based on molecular and generic mechanism has not been clarified to the date. Thus, it is important to develop a need based animal model for the better understanding and strategic planning to eliminate/avoid the obesity disorder. Therefore, the present review would unveil the pros and cons of presently established animal models for obesity research. In addition, it would indicate the required turning direction for further obesity and obesity based disease research.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.141-149
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• 2024

Pediatric obesity has rapidly increased globally over the past few decades, including in Korea. We aimed to discuss trends in the prevalence of pediatric obesity and effective prevention strategies. Its prevalence has markedly increased in most high-income nations. According to recent reports, this increase has slowed in developed countries, but the levels remain alarmingly high. In Korea, the rate of pediatric obesity has surged notably since the 1990s; however, since the 2000s, this increase has become more gradual. According to recently published 2017 growth charts, the prevalence of pediatric obesity in Korea varies slightly depending on the data source. The National School Health Examination data showed that pediatric obesity gradually increase from 11.5% in 2014 to 15.1% in 2019, and after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, it sharply increased to 19% in 2021. Based on data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of pediatric obesity gradually increased from 10.8% in 2017 to 13.6% in 2019. This trend, which accelerated sharply to 15.9% in 2020 and 19.3% in 2021, was especially severe in boys and older children. Pediatric obesity not only affects health during childhood but also increases the risk of developing obesity and associated health conditions in adulthood. Despite ongoing research on treatment options, obesity prevention and control remain challenging. Hence, prioritizing early intervention and prevention of pediatric obesity through healthy eating habits and lifestyles is crucial. This requires intervention at the individual, family, school, and community levels.

• Archives of Obesity and Metabolism
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2024

The prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents is increasing worldwide. Obesity in children and adolescents not only increases the risk of transitioning to obesity in adulthood but also increases the risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as high blood glucose, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, fatty liver, and hyperinsulinemia during childhood. The goal of treating obesity in children and adolescents is not to focus on weight loss but to help children reach a healthy weight while maintaining normal growth appropriate for their age and sex. To achieve this goal, regular physical activity and exercise, dietary modification, improvement of obesity-prone environmental factors, and behavioral changes are required for a healthy lifestyle. If appropriate weight control is not achieved through lifestyle modifications, pharmacotherapy may be considered for adolescents with severe obesity aged 12 and above. Recent clinical trials have reported the efficacy and safety of pharmacotherapy in severely obese adolescents. Currently, two medications can be prescribed in Korea for patients with obesity aged 12 and above: Orlistat and Liraglutide. However, despite effective weight control through drug treatment, body weight may increase again after treatment discontinuation. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate adherence to health behaviors during visits and continue to educate on lifestyle modifications, even during pharmacotherapy, to minimize weight regain.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3271-3274
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• 2012

Purpose : This study was performed to assess whether the weight status is associated with screening rates of breast and cervical cancer in Korean women. Methods: Study participants included women aged between 30 and 80 years from the 4th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2009. Body mass index was classified into ${\sim}18.4kg/m^2$ (underweight), $18.5{\sim}22.9kg/m^2$ (normal), $23{\sim}24.9kg/m^2$ (overweight), $25.0{\sim}29.9kg/m^2$ (moderate obesity) and $30.0kg/m^2$~ (severe obesity) according to the Asia Pacific Standards of WHO recommended definition of obesity. Screening rates of breast and cervical cancer were estimated by the recommendation of the National Cancer Screening Program of the National Cancer Center, Korea. Results : The overall screening rates for breast and cervical cancer were 51.3% and 50.1%, respectively. After covariate adjustment, the screening rates for breast cancer (adjusted odds ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.51 to 0.97) and cervical cancer (adjusted odds ratio, 0.71; 95% confidence interval, 0.53 to 0.94) were significantly lower in the women with severe obesity. Conclusion: Obesity is associated with lower compliance with breast and cervical cancer screening guidelines in Korean women.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2010

This study was performed to report the effectiveness of modified fasting therapy using very-low-calorie-diet on a patient with obesity. The patient was diagnosed as severe obesity and participated in a 14-day fast with the Signature, a liquor which is made from fermented medical herbs and carbohydrates (intake <600 kcal/day) accompanying 7 prefasting relief days, and 16 days with stepwise reintroduction of food. The fasting patient also received intensive oriental medical treatments such as acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping therapy and was encouraged to take more than two hours' of walking exercise a day. We have evaluated the efficacy of treatments by measuring the changes of body composition and blood chemistry according to each period of fasting therapy. After treatment, Body Fat Mass of the patient was decreased more than Muscle Mass and the level of AST, ALT was decreased to normal range. These results suggest that the modified fasting therapy was effective on the patient with obesity.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.849-856
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• 2009

Truncal obesity associated with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome increase the likelihood of hypertension, various cardiovascular diseases, hyperlipidemia and coronary heart diseases. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) experts recognized that it is necessary to develop the simple diagnostic tool which is applicable to diagnose truncal obesity worldwide, and proposed the method using a waist circumference but there is a limit to estimate subcutaneous fat distribution. However, waist line is also influenced by total fat capacity less than the intra abdominal fat. The more having severe obesity, the more correlation coefficient between waist line and intra abdominal fat is low. Therefore, this thesis defines a new abdominal impedance measurement position and impedance-index to analysis central obesity. This proposes the new model to estimate abdominal obesity using the abdominal impedance-index and CT images acquired fro 160 Korean subjects. The proposed model shows that the abdominal fat distribution has a higher correlation than waist line. (Adj R2=0.809, 0.667 and 0.687 with abdominal fat area, visceral fat area and subcutaneous fat area respectively).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.367-375
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• 1995

The difference between self-evaluated obesity and obesity index of RBW and BMI as well as attitude toward weight control were studied among college students in Chungnam area. The subjects of 307 students were randomly selected and asked to categorize their body shape into 5 groups and to record their body weight and height. We found that average RBW and BMI of the students were 95.7% and 20.6, respectively. By RBW, 30.6% of students belonged to underweight and severe-underweight groups whereas 14.0% overweight and obesity ones. The female students showed lower obesity indice than the male. Self-evaluated obesity seemed likely to overestimate their body shapes above RBW and BMI, which lead to high unsatisfactioin toward their body shape. The overestimation was profound in normal weighted female students up to 20%. Misunderstanding about their obesity, especially among female college students, should be corrected necessarily by proper nutrition counseling and nutrition education, unless malnutrition could be serious in college students.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.342-352
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• 2021

We used data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) (2016~2018) to investigate an association between high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and uric acid in the obese. Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m² or more, severe obesity as a BMI of 30 kg/m² or more, and morbid obesity as a BMI of 35 kg/m² or more. In the complex samples multiple logistic regression, despite adjustment by adding major risk factors, the odds ratio (OR) for obesity was higher in the group with high levels of both, hsCRP and uric acid than the reference group at all stages (obesity, OR 1.89, P<0.001 vs. severe obesity, OR 5.04, P<0.001 vs. morbid obesity, OR 8.20, P<0.001). The association between hsCRP and uric acid in obese patients increased from 1.89 to 8.20 as the obesity level increased, suggesting that participants with increased BMI were significantly affected by hsCRP and uric acid. Moreover, the interaction between hsCRP and uric acid was statistically significant even in the model corrected for major confounding factors (P for interaction=0.009).

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.439-446
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• 2020

Purpose: The evidence for an association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and obesity is conflicting. Therefore, we set out to review the body mass index (BMI) at presentation of IBD to understand if the rise of the obesity rate in the general population, lead to an increase of obesity in patients with IBD at the time of diagnosis. Methods: Retrospective review of all patients with IBD seen at Children's Hospital and Medical Center from January 1st 2010 to December 31st 2014. From the initial visit and endoscopy, we obtained: age; sex; BMI; disease phenotype; disease severity. Results: We had a total of 95 patients, 35 patients were excluded due to incomplete data or referral being made after diagnosis was made. 28 were males and 32 were females, Age range was 2-17 years. A 37 had Crohn's disease, 19 ulcerative colitis, and 4 indeterminate colitis. Disease severity in 19 cases was mild, 29 moderate and 12 severe. BMI distribution was as follows-obese (5.0%), overweight (6.7%), normal weight (65.0%), mild malnutrition (8.3%), moderate malnutrition (15.0%), severe malnutrition (1.7%). Conclusion: Our data is consistent with other series. Showing most children had a normal BMI, regardless of disease severity or phenotypes. One confounding factor is the possibility of delay in referral to GI. This could mean some obese children may fall in the normal BMI range at the time of diagnosis due to ongoing weight loss. Future studies should include prospective cohort studies, comparing incidence of IBD in obese and non-obese patients, severity at presentation, duration of symptoms, and clinical outcomes.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2023

Studies indicate an association between hyperuricemia (HUA) and metabolic syndrome risk factors. On the other hand, obesity is a major modifiable and independent risk factor for HUA and gout. However, evidence concerning the effects of bariatric surgery on serum uric acid levels is limited and not completely clarified. This retrospective study was carried out with 41 patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (n = 26) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (n = 15) from September 2019 to October 2021. Anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical data, including uric acid blood urea nitrogen and creatinine fasting blood sugar (FBS), serum triglyceride (TG), and serum cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), were measured preoperatively and postoperative 3, 6 and 12 months. From baseline to 6 and 12 months, bariatric surgery resulted in a significant decrease in serum uric acid of patients with severe obesity (p < 0.001). The decreases in serum FBS, TG, and cholesterol of patients were significant during 6 and 12 months of follow-up (p < 0.05). However, the HDL increase of patients was not statistically significant in 6 and 12 months (p > 0.05). Besides, although patients' serum level of LDL decreased significantly during the 6 months of follow-up (p = 0.007), it was not significant after 12 months (p = 0.092). Bariatric surgery significantly reduces serum uric acid levels. Therefore, it may be an effective supplementary therapy for lowering serum uric acid concentrations in morbidly obese patients.