• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.315-331
• /
• 2007

The purpose of this study is to examine current situations about and factors related to expenditures of private education among pre-school children and to provide policy implications useful for future pre-school children education. The subjects of the study were parents of pre-school children under seven years of age, who lived in Seoul and Incheon area. The survey was conducted using parent questionnaire. The major findings of the study are: First, 86.8% of parents of pre-school children use private education and the average expenditure on it was 154, 446 won. Second, major factors determining their private education expenditure are educational level of parents, parents' job characteristics, household income, and region. Third, the most important reason for using private education among parents is to improve and excel in academic performance of their children. Forth, the higher the parents' expected returns from private education are, the higher the expenditure level of private education is. Fitth, the results of the logistic regressions showed that parents' attitudes toward private education was the most important factor in determining household economic burden associated with private education. The odds were 5 times greater for the parent group with strong desire for private education than for the parent group without it and 1.2 times greater for the parent group with high-expected returns from private education than the parent group without it. In conclusion, systematic, universal educational policies need to be developed to provide and support all the parents with pre-school children, given that their current economic burden is substantial. By providing such support, we can help parents focus on public education. This study examining current situations about and determining factors related to private education expenditures among pre-school children collected data limiting only Seoul and Inchoen area, therefore, future studies need to include data collected nationwide for generalizability of the findings. As well, development of more elaborated survey instruments and analytical methods would advance our understanding in the field.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.324-331
• /
• 2000

A deteriorating North Korean economy, coupled with a devastating natural disaster such as flooding and drought in recent years, brought about a severe food shortage and malnutrition problem which caused a migration of its population including young children to neighboring countries. We conducted a nutritional survey on a total of 436 children, aged 4-19 years old, who migrated to the China side of the border from July to September, 1999. The study subjects were interviewed by Korean-Chinese interviewers who were trained for anthropometric measurements and dietary surveys. Heights, weights, and chest circumference of the subjects were 70-90% of the South Korean reference values for the corresponding age and sex. Dietary intakes of the subjects were found to be extremely poor-the average number of food, mostly of plant origin, consumed in a day was 2.8, and the proportion of the subject who reported to take all three meals in a day while residing in North Korea was as low as 36.2%. Ninety five percent of the subjects had at least one clinical symptom related to malnutrition, 68.6% had 2-4 symptoms, and 15.1% had 5 or more symptoms. The results of this study provided an objective data for the first time on the severity of the food crisis and malnutrition problem that afflicted North Korean older children and adolescents as well as children aged 7 or under as previously reported elsewhere. the wasted and stunted children and youths prevailing in North Korea could exert a negative influence on the country's health and economy. More researches are needed in the future to investigate on the impact of malnutrition in North Korean children on the country's social, economic, and cultural state as well as on the health and nutrition situation.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.12-19
• /
• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D is a pleiotropic hormone that affects various body organ systems. We evaluated the prevalence of a vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and its potential role in the clinical condition of critically ill Korean children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Patients under 18 years old with a 25(OH) vitamin D measurement on the first day of PICU admission were included from among the children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of our tertiary children's hospital between October 2017 and January 2019. RESULTS: A total of 172 pediatric patients were enrolled. The mean 25(OH) vitamin D level was 17.5 ± 12.8 ng/mL. There was a 65.1% prevalence of VDD (25(OH) vitamin D level < 20 ng/mL). VDD was associated with age at PICU admission, gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary disorders, International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis disseminated intravascular coagulation (ISTH DIC) score, pediatric multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (pMODS) score and with several laboratory test findings including hemoglobin, platelet, C-reactive protein, serum albumin, total bilirubin, prothrombin time, and anti-thrombin III levels. Most of these parameters also showed significant linear correlations with the 25(OH) vitamin D level (P < 0.05). However, no statistically meaningful association was found between VDD and other clinical conditions such as the need for a mechanical ventilator, requirement for vasoactive drugs, duration of the PICU and hospital stays, or PICU mortality. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of VDD in critically ill Korean children. There were significant associations between the 25(OH) vitamin D level and gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary disorders, the pMODS score and with coagulation related factors. Further large-scale studies with more specific subgroup analyses are required to more precisely assess the clinical implications of VDD in critically ill pediatric patients.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.509-520
• /
• 2009

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of weight control program on food habits, eating behaviors and life habits in obese elementary school children. The program consisted of nutritional education, physical exercise and behavioral therapy was conformed for 10 weeks. Participants of the study involved 41 obese children and their parents. There was significant difference in waist circumference (p < 0.05) and children's body fat % significantly decreased from 35.8% to 33.0% (p < 0.01) after program. There was significant increase (p < 0.05) in HDL-cholesterol, 47.8 (mg/dL) to 53.6 (mg/dL) after weight control program. Food habits and eating behaviors of obese children were showed positively changes but there were no significant differences after program. Regularity of having breakfast and amount of meal under the stress condition were not significantly different after program. The levels of physical activity of obese children were significantly increased from 1.40(hr) to 1.74(hr) per day (p < 0.05). But there were no significant changes in spending hours of watching television and playing computer games. Food habits, eating behavior and physical activity showed significant correlations to weight control. These results suggest that the body weight control program for obese children including nutrition education, physical exercise and behavioral therapy may be effective to improve their food habits, eating behaviors and life habits. Nevertheless we need a more concentrating program to improve life habits such as physical activity and watching television.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.37-54
• /
• 1995

The radical development of modern mathematics is due to the appearance of Collection Theory by George Cantor. The Set Theory is independent as an area and also closely interrelated with other areas. So its content becomes a common sense and a basic part across the whole area of modern mathematics. Accordingly, the basic element of modern mathematics is helping young children get familiar with set as early as possible. The thinking of set by which children can categorize, make partial sets and correspondences, understand the general characteristic, and conceptualize the discovered relationships is very important for young children. At this point where the Math education for young children is emphasized under the influence of the modernization movement of Math education, the systematic education for building up the set concept as the basic background of number concept during the early childhood is required. On current mathematics education for young children, graphs, the foundation of geometry, time, and patterns have been included in the traditional and practical content related to numbers. However, the education on collection which is the foundation of number concept is insufficient. A study shows that the level of young children's understanding on set is quite high, but the set concept isn't reflected in current Math curriculum for young children. And basic activities neccesary on building up the set concept, such as categorization, comparison, etc. are conducted in kindergardens but unsatisfactory because of those kindergarden teachers' premature understanding on the set concept. In conclusion, the curriculum for young children should be reorganized based on the set concept as the kernel concept. Also, the reappraisal of the training curriculum and the supplementary efucation for kindergarden teachers are urgent for raising the teaching ability of those kindergarden teachers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.451-462
• /
• 2001

This study was designed to investigate nutrition intakes and its relation to the obesity and the prevalence of anemia in 252 children(136 boys, 116 girls) aged $2{\sim}6$ years. The hematological parameters, daily nutrient intakes and height and weight were measured. Calorie intakes of 2 and 3year-old-children were over their RDA while those of 4-6 years were below the RDA. Intakes of protein, P, and vit B complex were far over the RDA in all ages of children. Fe and vit A intakes were insufficient in all ages except 3 years while Ca intakes were insufficient in all ages except 2 and 3 years. About 18.2% of the children were evaluated as obese. However, very few children were anemic by hematologic parameters. The mean Hb concentrations were 12.2mg/dl in boys and also in girls. The mean Hct was 36.2% in boys, 35.8% in girls. Serum Fe concentration was 100.1mg/dl in boys, 101.1mg/dl in girls. RBC count was significantly higher in boys while MCH was significantly higher in girls. Intakes of protein, P, Fe, vit $B_1$, niacin, vit C were significantly higher in obese group compared to under weight group. There were significant positive correlations between protein intake and Hb, Hct, MCH, and MCHC. The correlation between Fe intake and Hb or Hct was not significant. In conclusion, it seems that the nutritional status of the most children was in very good condition. However, they needed to take more foods supplying Fe, Ca, and vit A.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.102-111
• /
• 2016

Objectives: The intention of this study was to find out the impact of mother's body mass index, eating habits, nutrition status and sociodemographic factors on the body mass index of the children. Methods: The study used original data of Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2011) and had 957 children in the ages of 1-5 years and 957 mothers of these children, a total 1,914 as subjects. The weights (body mass indexes) of the children, subjects under 5th percentile were classified into a underweight group, 5~84th percentile into a normal weight group, 85-94th percentile into an overweight group and more than 95th percentile into an obesity group based on the 2007 Korean children and adolescents growth chart. Results: We observed that when the body mass index of a mother increased by 1, the possibility that her child would belong to the overweight group increased by 6.5% (95% confidence interval: 1.01~1.13), and the possibility that the child would belong to the obesity group increased by 95% (confidence interval: 1.01~1.18). With regard to the number of deficient nutrients which were ingested according to estimated average requirements (EAR) amid nutrients ingested by the mother increased by 1, the possibility that the child would belong to the obesity group increased by 16.6% (95% confidence interval: 1.01~1.35). In case the birth weight of child increased by 1kg, the odds ratio that the child would belong to the obesity group was 2.022 (95% confidence interval: 1.08~3.77). Conclusions: We conclude that the body mass index, eating habits and nutrition status of the mother had significant effects on the body mass index of the child. Therefore, it is critical to recognize the importance of this observation and provide practical training for eating habits and nutrient intakes in order to achieve healthy growth and prevention of obesity among children.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.109-122
• /
• 1999

This is a study of 43 divorce cases appeared in the Korean courts during 3 years period from Feb. 12, 1996 to Jan. 4, 1999. They were devided into 6 categories. 1) 11 cases were those where divorces were not allowed. 2) 21 cases dealed with the right to ask for alimony. 3) 3 cases dealed with the right to ask for division of property. 4) 2 cases were to decide who will exercise parental rights with respect to children. 5) 1 case was to decide who can meet the children. 6) 5 other cases dealed with other problems associated with divorces.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.1-19
• /
• 1971

Nutritional anemia is an important nutritional problem affecting large population groups in most developing countries. Nutritional anemia is caused by the absence of any dietary essential involed in hemoglobin formation or by poor absorption of these dietary components. The most likely causes are lack of dietary iron, and folate, vitamin $B_{12}$ and high qualify protein. Anemia is considered to be a late mainfeastation of nutritional deficiencies, and even mild anemia is not the earilest sign of such a deficiency. Therefore, the object of therapy is to correct underlying deficiency rather than merely its manifestation. Iron deficiency anemia is generally much the most common form of anemia. And it is very prevalent particularly in pregnant women and young children, especially under five year of life. According to the rapid growth rate of infants, dietary iron should he provided for infants over three months of age in adequate amounts for the synthesis of hemoglobin required by the increasing blood volume and for the demands of newly formed cells. The principal causes of iron deficiency anemia are an inadequate dietary iron content, interference with absorption of iron from the intestine, excessive losses of iron from the body, disturbance of iron metabolism by infection, and social and cultural environments. The present study is planned to obtain informations concerning nutritional anemia through anthropometric and biochemical determinations for the assessment of nutriture in pre-school children. Determination was taken in 226 pre-school children in ruraI arae in 1968, 122 pre-school children in 1970, and 1526 hospitalized pre-school children in 1970. The results of this study are as follows; (1) According to Iowa Malnutrition Borderline (85 percentile) for weight, the proportions of underweighed pre-school boys and girls in rural area were 47.2% and 46.2% in1968, and were 36.1% and 51.8% in 1970. According to Iowa Malnutrition Borderline for height, the proportions of underheight boys and girls in rural area were 30.5% and 33.7%, and were 26.2% and 21.8% in 1970. Malnutrition scores of underweight for height values of boys and girls in rural area were 19.3 and 17.3 in 1968, and the scores of boys and girls were 15.6 and 15.5 in 1970. (2) The mean hemoglobin values of boys and girls in rural area were $11.2{\pm}1.8g/100ml\;and\;11.4{\pm}1.6g/100ml$ in 1968. In 1970, the mean values of boys and girls in rural area were $11.3{\pm}1.3g/100ml\;and\;11.7{\pm}2.4g/100ml$. The mean hemoglobin values of hospitalized boys and girls were $11.9{\pm}2.2g/100ml\;and\;11.7{\pm}2.4g/100ml$ in 1970. It is found that 92 of 215 children (42.7%) in rural area had concentrations of hemoglobin less than 11.0g/100ml in 1968. In 1970, 55 of 121 children (45.4%) in rural area and 559 of 1526 hospitalized children (36.6%) had concentrations of hemoglobin less than 11.0g/100ml. (3) The mean hematocrit levels of hospitalized boys and girls were $35{\pm}26.8%\;and\;35.4{\pm}6.4%$ in 1970. And 443 of 1334 hospitalized children (33.2%) had hematocrit values below 33%. (4) The average mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration levels of hospitalized boys and girls were $32.4{\pm}2.2\;and\;32.3{\pm}2.2$ in 1970. And 1016 of 1352 hospitalized children (75.1%) had the mean corpuscular hemoglobin values below 34. (5) The mean iron values of young children in rural area and hospitalized children were $62.0{\pm}6.3{\mu}g/100ml\;and\;60.7{\pm}22.8{\mu}g/100ml$. The proportions of anemia cases below $50{\mu}g/100ml$ in rural area was 37.9%, and 34.3% in hospitalized children. (6) The mean total iron binding capacity of young children in rural area was $376{\pm}57.88{\mu}g/100ml,\;and\;342.2{\pm}6.15{\mu}g/100ml$ in hospitalized children. (7) The average transferrin saturation percentage of young children in rural area was $16.9{\pm}4.7%,\;and\;18.0{\pm}8.4%$ in hospitalized children. The proportions of anemia cases below 15% of young chi1dren in rural area and hospitalized children were 48.3% and 41.2%. Therefore, authors wish to recommend that the following further studies should be undertaken: (1) Standardization of simplied laboratory examination of nutritional anemia. (2) The prevalence of nutritional anemia and the requirements of iron, folate, and vitamin $B_{12}$ of pre-school children. (3) The content and absorption of iron in Korean food. (4) The pathogenesis of nutritional anemia and prevention of parasitic disease. (5) Maternal health and nutrition education.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.33-42
• /
• 2004

Purpose : Children with nephrotic syndrome(NS) are under high risk for metabolic bone disease(MBD) as a complication of long-term glucocorticoid therapy. We prospectively evaluated the effect of oral bisphosphonate(alendronate) therapy in children with NS, which has proven efficacy in adult patients with glucocorticoid induced MBD. Methods : Among 58 children with NS, aged 5 to 8 years and haying a disease duration of more than 2 years, 30(51.7%) were enrolled to meet the selection criteria, less than -1.0 Z-scores of lumbar spine bone mineral density(BMD) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). These 30 children were divided into three groups and each were assigned to receive alendronate, calcitriol, and no-medication, respectively for one year. Lumbar spine BMD was followed up every 6 months and the biochemical indexes were measured before and 1 year after the treatment. There were no significant difference among groups with respect to the average age, the initial BMD, and the cumulative steroid doses. Analysis of the treatment efficacy was done by the % change of BMD and by the changes in Z-scores of lumbar spine BMD. Results : Mean age and disease duration of patients at the initial lumbar spine BMD evaluation was $7.4{\pm}1.7$ years and $2.2{\pm}1.2$ years, respectively. Twenty-three of 30 children(76%) had osteopenia, and seven(23%) had osteoporosis. There was no difference in the biochemical values among the groups, before and 1 year after the treatment(P<0.05). Twenty two children(73.3%) with frequent relapsing or steroid dependant NS had more frequent MBD, compared to the 8 children(26.6%) with infrequent relapsing NS. The one year % changes of BMD were 8.56 in alendronate group, 5.79 in calcitriol group, and 1.9 in no-medication group. The changes in Z-score of lumbar spine BMD increased in the alendronate group and the calcitriol group, but not in the no-medication group. One year % changes of BMD were different among groups(P=0.0002). Significant differences were found between the alendronate and the no-medication group, and between the calcitriol and the no-medication group(P<0.05). There was no difference between the alendronate and the calcitriol group. No serious adverse effect was observed in the alendronate group. Conclusion : Children with NS receiving high dose steroids are under the high risk of BMD and should undergo regular BMD evaluation. Z-score of lumbar spine BMD was a useful parameter in diagnosing low bone mass in children. Alendronate weekly oral therapy was effective and relatively safe in increasing the lumbar spine BMD in children with NS having steroid induced MBD.