• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.331-344
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• 1995

The process of breast feeding was investigated from the 36th week of pregnancy to 12 weeks postnatal, in order to analyze the factors affecting breast feeding duration and provide the basic data on an education program for successful breast feeding. The general characteristics of study group had no marked effects on the breastfeeding duration. The young and highly condition during pregnancy and the degree of morning sickness affected the practice of breastfeeding. In the study of prenatal sociobehavioral factors, intended duration affected the breastfeeding duration, and the maternal perception that breastfeeding is good for weight loss after delivery as well as infant formula milk is not as good as breast milk, led to successful breast feeding. Among the postnatal biological factors, the duration of gestation affected the breast feeding. Among the postnatal biological factors, the duration of gestation affected the breastiffeding outcome. In the case of early parturition, breastfeeding rate was low. Among the postnatal biocultural factors, time of first feed, milk volume and maternal perception of infant's sucking ability affected the bresatfeeding duration. From these result, it is suggested that an education program such as participation of nursing class to the pregnant women should be provided for successful breastfeeding.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.189-201
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• 1999

Lead (Pb) is ubiquitous in the urban environment and is a well-known toxic element. It may cause adverse health effects on hematopoietic system, peripheral and central nervous systems, kidney functions, and others. In recent decades, lead concentration in blood has been widely used one of indicators for lead exposure and risk evaluation. In this study, we determined the blood-lead levels in general populations of Korea, and investigated the relationship among blood-lead levels, sociobehavioral factors, and lead concentrations in the contacted environments such as ambient air, drinking water, and foods. The study subjects consisted of volunteers who had lived in the residential or industrial area in Korea. Information about gender, age, living area, occupation, smoking, heat system, and dietary habits, etc was collected using a self-reported questionnaires. The lead concentrations of environments were collected by literature search to the study area. Participated subjects in industrial area were 726 and their blood-lead levels were 8.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for males and 6.26 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for female in average. The other subjects in residential area were 317 and their blood-lead levels were 4.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for males and 3.49 $\mu\textrm{g}$/dl for female in average. The distribution of blood-lead level in the industrial subjects was well fitted to the log -normal distribution and that in the residential subjects was well fitted to the normal distribution. Blood-lead levels in both area were affected by gender, smoking habit, age and residence duration except age in industrial area and residence duration in residential area. It was identified that 30% of blood-lead level was contributed from the inhalation of ambient air in the industrial area, and 8.4% of blood-lead level was from that in the residential area. from this study, it would be suggested for the health risk assessment and management of lead pollution concerns in urban, industrial and rural areas.