• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.13-24
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• 2011

This study compared actual weight with perceived weight, described the prevalence of unhealthy weight control behavior, determined the differences in psychological and personal variables between participants that reported unhealthy weight control behavior and those who did not, and examined the relationship of eating habits to unhealthy weight control behavior for Korean adolescents. The study population consisted of a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students who completed the Fifth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS): Fifth in 2009. Among the 75,066 participants of KYRBWS, 35,473 (n = 18,851 girls and 16,622 boys) were eligible for a research focused on unhealthy weight control behavior. The results of this research were as follows: First, there were considerable discrepancies (45.1% of girls and 32.8% of boys) between the perceived weight and the actual weight. Second, overall, unhealthy weight control behavior was more prevalent in girls and fasting was the most commonly reported behavior. Third, participants that reported unhealthy weight control behavior scored significantly lower on scaled measures of happiness, health, academic achievement, and economic status; in addition, they scored higher on stress measures. Fourth, girls and boys shared common protective factors of having breakfast and vegetables more often, perceiving their weight as underweight rather than overweight, and having a correct weight conception. Protective factors unique to girls were having lunch and dinner more often. Girls and boys shared common risk factors of the consumption of soda, fast food, instant noodles, and snacks more often, while consumption of fruit more often was a risk factor only for girls. The improvement of protective factors and minimization of risk factors through Home Economics classes (and other classes relevant to health) may mitigate unhealthy weight control behavior of adolescents.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.117-126
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships of optimistic bias about gastric cancer, self-efficacy of healthy dietary behavior and unhealthy dietary habit in Korean adult men. The subjects were 394 men aged from 20 to 64 who lived in Seoul, Kyonggi Do, Kwang-Ju, Jeonnam Do. Data was collected by questionnaire surveys using convenient sampling. The instruments used for this study were extracted and modified from Lee's(2003). The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression with SPSS/PC 10.0 version. Unhealthy dietary habit in adult men indicated a significantly negative correlation to optimistic bias about gastric cancer(r=-.159, p=.002) and self-efficacy of healthy dietary behavior(r=-.470, P=.000). The most significant predictors influencing unhealthy dietary habit in adult men were age and self-efficacy of healthy dietary behavior. The variance explained was about 24%. These results suggested that men of young age and lack of self-efficacy of healthy dietary behavior are likely to have unhealthy dietary behavior. Therefore, considering age and facilitating self-efficacy are needed in nursing education and intervention for dietary habit change.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.355-365
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• 2004

Purpose: The aims of this study were to develope a structural model of health insensitivity and to verify the model of health insensitivity. Method: There were three theoretical variables in the hypothetical model. The endogenous variable was health insensitivity which is a concept including bluntness of health risk perception and unhealthy behavior. The exogenous variables were composed of personal factors and socio-cultural factors. In personal factors, neuroticism, external health locus of control, blunting style of information-seeking, deficit of self-efficacy, knowledge deficit related to health, health-related experience, age and education were included. Whereas socio-cultural factors include perceived group size of unhealthy behavior and stereotypes of unhealthy behavior. Result: Personal factors and sociocultural factors were significant in explanation of the health insensitivity. Relationship between personal factors and sociocultural factors was significant, too. However, the optimistic bias as part of health insensitivity was not supported by these data. GFI, AGFI and PGFI were .95, .92, .65, respectively. Therefore, this model was verified to be a good fit to the data and parsimonious. Conclusion: Nursing to change unhealthy behavior has focused on personal factors rather than sociocultural factors. Based on this result, however, the sociocultural factors should be considered as well.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.106-113
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between unhealthy eating behavior and depression in adolescents, with confounding variables adjusted. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of the data collected from the 2013 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS). The analysis included 72,435 participants (36,655 male and 35,780 female). The data were analyzed by $x^2$ test, t-test, and logistic regression analysis using SPSS Version 21 by complex samples analysis. Results: Compared with male adolescents with healthy eating behavior, those who with unhealthy eating behavior were more likely to suffer depression with other factors controlled (OR=1.37, 1.07~1.75). On the other hand, female adolescents with unhealthy eating behavior were less likely to feel depressed compared with female adolescents with unhealthy eating behavior and with other factors controlled (OR=0.98, 0.64~1.50). However, it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that healthy eating behavior may be a protective factor against depression in male adolescents, but not in female adolescents. Furthermore, our results suggest that the longitudinal associations between mental health and healthy eating behavior and other lifestyle factors are complex.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.552-562
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• 2023

Objectives: Adolescents who engage in unhealthy behaviors are particularly vulnerable to anxiety. We hypothesized that participation in physical activity could influence the relationship between anxiety and unhealthy behaviors in adolescents. These behaviors include smoking, alcohol consumption, and unsafe sexual activity. Methods: This study included 50 301 students from the first year of middle school to the third year of high school, all from Korea. The unhealthy adolescent behaviors examined included current alcohol consumption, current smoking, and unsafe sexual behavior. Anxiety levels were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire (GAD-7). Results: The participants had a mean age of 15.19 years and an average GAD-7 score of 4.23. No significant differences were observed in GAD-7 score among exercising participants when categorized by smoking status (p=0.835) or unsafe sexual behavior (p=0.489). In contrast, participants in the non-exercise group who engaged in these behaviors demonstrated significantly higher GAD-7 scores (p<0.001 and 0.016, respectively). The only significant interaction was found between unsafe sexual behavior and exercise (p=0.009). Based on logistic regression analysis, within the non-exercise group, significant positive associations were observed between current smoking and anxiety (odds ratio [OR], 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18 to 1.57), as well as between unsafe sexual behavior and anxiety (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.73). However, within the exercise group, no significant association was found between anxiety and either smoking or unsafe sexual behavior. Furthermore, no significant interaction was observed between unhealthy behaviors and exercise. Conclusions: These findings are insufficient to conclude that physical activity influences the relationship between unhealthy behaviors and anxiety.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.272-291
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate health-related habits, dietary habits, depression, stress, satisfaction of body weight, mini-dietary assessment (MDA) and dietary behaviors according to self-rated health among 255 university students in Kyungnam province. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software package (version 19.0). The average ages of the subjects were 21.1 years. Participants were asked their self-rated health and 109, 105 and 41 students answered themselves as "healthy", "normal" and "unhealthy", respectively. The pocket money (P<0.05) was related with self-rated health, and meal frequency (P<0.01) of healthy group was higher than that of the unhealthy group. The self-reported depression level (P<0.01) and the score of depression (P<0.05) of the healthy group were lower than those of the unhealthy group. The self-reported stress level of the healthy group (P<0.05) was higher than that of the unhealthy group. The scores of nutritional behavior (P<0.05) and MDA (P<0.01) of the healthy group were higher than those of the unhealthy group. The scores for intakes of meat, fish, egg or beans, cereals and vegetables except kimchi, fruits, balanced diet and various foods were higher in the healthy group than in the unhealthy group. Our results suggest that pocket money, high meal frequency, low depression, satisfaction of present body weight, and good dietary behavior might influence good perception of self-rated health.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.123-134
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• 2023

Disordered eating behaviors, such as overeating, are known to be contagious in the general population. The objective of our research is to find an optimal control strategy to reduce the social burden of unhealthy overeating behavior by establishing and analyzing a mathematical model for the social transmission dynamics of unhealthy overeating. We consider four compartments in the population: normal weight with normal eating behavior, normal weight with overeating behavior, overweight with normal eating behavior, and overweight with overeating behavior. Simulation results under various control scenarios show that integrated control measures may be necessary to reduce the growth rate of the overeating population.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 2008

This study was done to investigate the relationship between the perception of body image, body weight satisfaction or dietary behavior and self-rated health status in Korean college students. Subjects, 285 college students, were divided into three groups (healthy, normal, and unhealthy) according to the answer for the self-rated health question. Information about demographic status, self-rated health condition, height and weight, perception of body image, satisfaction of body weight, concern for body weight control, dietary behavior, nutritional knowledge, and health-related characteristics collected by a self-reported questionnaire. The proportion of men and women in each group was not significantly different. The academic year, major, experience of nutritional education, and type of residence were not significantly related with self-rated health but the pocket money range was significantly associated (p<0.05) with self-rated health. The proportion of subjects rated their health as unhealthy was the lowest in 210-300 thousand won pocket money range and was increased in less than 210 thousand won or over 300 thousand won pocket money ranges. There were no significant differences for age, height, weight and BMI between the groups. The body image perception and body weight satisfaction levels of healthy group was significantly higher than those of unhealthy group (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively), but the level of concern for body weigh1 control in healthy subjects was significantly lower than that in unhealthy subjects (p<0.05). The proportion of subjects reported as healthy was significantly increased with increased frequencies of following food behaviors; weekly use of protein foods (p<0.01), vegetables (p<0.05) and dairy products (p<0.01), and food habits such as "regularity of meal time" (p<0.01), "eating in moderation" (p<0.05), and "eating breakfast" (p<0.001). Overall results suggested that the college students have tended to have a better perception of health when they have better body image perception, body weight satisfaction and dietary behaviors.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.312-329
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• 2004

This study was examined 718 workers who had consistent blood pressure results in 2001 and 2002 general health examinations that were held at a work places managed by a health care agency in Seoul. Significant results are found as follows by analysing SPSS 11.0 on the result of self-recorded questionnaires investigated from Mar 1, 2003 to April 30, 2003. 1. A sampled healthy group and a sampled unhealthy group had significant differences in four variables out of possible nineteens that are sex, age, marriage and occupation. The unhealthy group had more males than females, more aged (over 50 years old) than youngers (under 50 years old), more married than singles, more manufacturing workers than non-manufacturing workers. In the case of systolic blood pressure, as the healthy group had 16.52mmHg while that of the other group had 149. 58mmHg, 33.06mmHg of difference between those groups were detected. In the case of diastolic blood pressure, 74.93mmHg of the healthy group and 96.53mmHg of the unhealthy group yielded 21.60mmHg of difference between them. This result implies that a guidance of health care is required to be aware of 20-30mmHg volatility in blood pressure rate or to understand and treat properly own blood pressure. as it is difficult to detect hypertension in early stage due to no initial symptom. According to the result. an establishment of management system of workers, companies and health care agencies is required for consist health care. 2. In terms of risky habits to health, the unhealthy group had more proportion of past smokers, over-twice-a-week drinkers, people with higher obesity rate. However, in terms of excercise, the proportion of regularly exercising people is higher in the unhealthy group while that of non-exercising people is higher in the healthy group. On the other hand. the average grade of health practicing behaviour in two groups are not significantly different as the health group had 3.00 out of possible 6.00 while the other had 3.10. This result means that as workers are not interested in health practicing behaviour. health promoting programmes must be developed in such a way of various method of motivations and incentives. Particularly this implies that distortional objectives of exercises should be readjusted through health guidance. 3. Systolic blood pressure in the healthy group can be explained by sex and the obesity rate while that in the unhealthy group can be explained by subjective health awareness and the obesity. Diastolic blood pressure in the healthy group can be explained by sex and the obesity rate like the former. The obesity rate was significant variable affecting the blood pressure of both groups, and particularly the effect to the unhealthy group was remarkably higher than that to the healthy group. Therefore, this research identified that the health care on the blood pressure of workers is not only limited to hypertension patients, but also extended to all workers. In order for consistent care, an establishment of management system of workers, companies and health care agencies is required.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.145-170
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to clarity the concept of health insensitivity using Hybrid model, which consists of three phases： theoretical, empirical, and analytic. In the theoretical phase, the definitions of health insensitivity were searched in korean dictionary and examples used in the websites because the concept of health insensitivity has never been studied before. Two dimensions of health insensitivity emerged out from this investigation were cognitive and behavioral. And then a working definition of health insensitivity was established. The sub-concepts and related factors of health insensitivity were identified through the extensive reviews of the literature focusing on two dimensions of cognitive and behavioral. In the empirical phase, in order to obtain description of health insensitivity, face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with nine persons who are not related to professional health care. Grounded theory approach was applied to analyze these qualitative data. In the final analytic phase, theoretical results and empirical results were analyzed in the integrated way and a theoretical framework of health insensitivity was established. A refined definition of health insensitivity was that decreased health risk perception in cognitive dimension and conduction of the unhealthy behaviors in behavioral dimension. Sub-concepts of decreased health risk perception were optimistic bias and decreased general fear. Sub-concepts of unhealthy behavior were doing health threatening behavior and not doing desirable health behavior. The contact of health information was a causal condition of health insensitivity. Optimistic disposition, health locus of control, and avoidance coping style were intervening conditions of health insensitivity. Three types of health insensitivity were identified： unconcern or ignorance type, optimistic bias type, and cognitive dissonance type. Finally, The implications of these findings for further research and nursing practice are discussed.