• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2018

Purpose: Mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) is considered an alternative screening method for obesity. The aims of this investigation were to examine the ability of MUAC to correctly identify children with elevated body mass index (BMI) and to determine the best MUAC cutoff point for identification of children with high BMI. Methods: Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, and MUAC) from a cross-sectional sample of 7,921 Pakistani children aged 5-14 years were analyzed. Pearson correlation coefficients between MUAC and other anthropometric measurements were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the optimal MUAC cutoff point for identifying children with high BMI. Results: Among 7,921 children, the mean (${\pm}$standard deviation) age, BMI, and MUAC were 10.00 (${\pm}2.86years$), 16.16 (${\pm}2.66kg/m^2$), and 17.73 (${\pm}2.59cm$), respectively. The MUAC had a strong positive correlation with BMI. The optimal MUAC cutoff points indicating elevated BMI in boys ranged from 16.76 to 22.73, while the corresponding values in girls ranged from 16.38 to 20.57. Conclusion: MUAC may be used as a simple indicator of overweight/obesity in children, with reasonable accuracy in clinical settings.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.55 no.9
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• pp.344-349
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• 2012

Purpose: Short sleep duration is associated with obesity. Urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (6-OHMS), the principal metabolite of melatonin, is closely related with sleep. We evaluated the difference in urinary 6-OHMS levels between obese girls and normal weight girls, and the relationship of urinary 6-OHMS with other hormones regulating body weight and metabolism. Methods: A total of 79 girls (6.3 to 12.4 years) were included in this study, of whom 34 were obese; 15, overweight; and 30, normal-weight. We examined their pubertal status and bone age. Fasting serum levels of total ghrelin, leptin, insulin, and first morning urinary 6-OHMS were measured. Homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated from the fasting insulin and glucose levels. Results: There was no significant difference in the creatinine adjusted 6-OHMS levels between the obese girls and the control group. Urinary 6-OHMS did not show any correlations with body mass index (BMI), BMI percentile, total ghrelin, leptin, and HOMA-IR. Negative correlations were found between urinary 6-OHMS levels and chronological and bone ages. Conclusion: Our results suggest that melatonin production is not reduced consistently in obese girls.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.797-803
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• 2015

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is usually caused by foods such as wheat, egg, milk, and peanuts, leading to common health problems in early childhood with complications like urtication. The aim of this study was to evaluate ethanol extracts of rice and rice snacks concentrated until the ethanol was completely eliminated and hot-air dried. In vitro analyses were carried out using murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. We measured cytotoxicity, nitric oxide (NO) production, and inflammatory cytokine level. The NO level of the cells exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was significantly reduced by rice and rice snack extracts. $TNF-{\alpha}$ level decreased in contrast to the LPS group, although a significant difference was not observed. On the other hand, IL-6 significantly decreased in both rice and rice snack extracts in a dose-dependent manner. The results of the present study suggest that rice and rice snack decreased NO and inflammatory cytokine levels. Therefore, rice could be useful as a raw material for relieving child atopic dermatitis caused by snacks made from wheat.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.407-412
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• 2019

Excessive weight gain in children diagnosed with celiac disease (CD) is becoming more common. We describe 2 siblings (9-year and 6 months-old female and 6-year and 9 months-old male) with obesity showing attenuated gastrointestinal and atypical symptoms in which CD was diagnosed in the absence of a known family history of CD. After children's diagnosis, CD in their parents was also investigated. It was detected in their father affected by overweight. The presentation of patients with CD has changed. While patients with overweight and obesity commonly have symptoms such as abdominal pain, reflux, headache, and constipation due to lifestyle factors, CD should also be considered in patients with or without a family history of CD. Careful nutritional status assessment and follow-up monitoring after the diagnosis of CD are mandatory, especially in subjects who are already overweight at the presentation of this disease.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.76-76
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• 2017

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.16-27
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of obesity and to examine the eating habits of elementary school students in Iksan dity. The study was carried out on 292 students(male: 151, female : 141)in May of 1997. The average height and weight of the subjects were 141 cm and 37kg in males and 142 cm and 36kg in females, which were similar to the average of Chonbuk. A Weight/Length Index(WLI), Broca Index, Rohrer Index(RI), Body Mass Index(BMI) and Waist Hip Ratio(WHR) were used as an obesity index to classify degree of obesity. WLI, Broca Index and RI were proper for judging child obesity and strict judgments were conducted in the order of RI, WLI and Brcoa Index. The subjects were classified as 30.8% underweight, 43.5% normal, 8.2% overweight and 17.5% obese by WLI and there were significant differences between height(p＜0.05) and weight(p＜0.01) according to obesity degree among the four groups. 50.3% of the boys and 55.3% of the girls are regularly, and the main reason they didn＇t ate regularly, and the maim reason they didn＇t eat breakfast(78.4%) was due to lack of time. The frequency of snacks were 1-2 times a week(40.4%), fruits(40.4%) from market and supermarket(68.2%). According to the survey 84.6%, 77.45, 78.1%, 69.9%, 59.9% and 86.6% of subjects didn＇t eat meat, fish, soysauce, instant food, sugar and seaweed respectively. Seaweed, meat, and soysauce showed low preferences. 69.5% and 74.75 of the subjects drink milk and ate kimchi respectively. By analyzing eating habits according to the degree of obesity, the rate of skipping breakfast(p＜0.01), and eating meat or fish(p＜0.05) were high in the overweight and obese groups of girls. In the boys case, the rate of not eating food in sugar(p＜0.05) was high in the obese group. Obese children need to correct their eating habit. This reasserts the importance of nutrition education in children though teachers, parents, and dietitions. The findings of this study may be applied to nutrition education to ensure better physical fitness for children.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.235-242
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• 2006

Objectives: We wanted to determine the distribution of the clustering of the metabolic risk factors and we wanted to evaluate the related factors in young schoolchildren. Methods: A cross-sectional study of metabolic syndrome was conducted in an elementary school in Seoul, Korea. We evaluated fasting glucose, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, blood pressures and the body mass index, and we used parent-reported questionnaires to assess the potential risk factors in 261 children (136 boys, 125 girls). We defined the metabolic risk factors as obesity or at risk for obesity ($\geqq$ 85th percentile for age and gender), a systolic or diastolic blood pressure at $\geqq90th$ percentile for age and gender, fasting glucose at $\geqq110mg/dl$, triglyceride at $\geqq110mg/dl$ and HDL cholesterol at $\leqq40mg/dl$. Results: There were 15.7% of the subjects who showed clustering of two or more metabolic risk factors, 2.3% of the subjects who showed clustering for three or more risk factors, and 0.8% of the subjects who showed clustering for four or more risk factors. A multivariate analysis revealed that a father smoking more than 20 cigarettes per day, a mother with a body mass index of = $25kg/m^2$, and the child eating precooked or frozen food more than once per day were associated with clustering of two or more components, with the odds ratios of 3.61 (95% CI=1.24-10.48), 5.50 (95% CI=1.39-21.73) and 8.04 (95% CI=1.67-38.81), respectively. Conclusions: This study shows that clustering of the metabolic risk factors is present in young schoolchildren in Korea, with the clustering being associated with parental smoking and obesity as well as the child's eating behavior. These results suggest that evaluation of metabolic risk factors and intervention for lifestyle factors may be needed in both young Korean children and their parents.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.459-468
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• 2012

This study surveyed and analyzed on the relationship between obesity and oral health in early child hood and on the oral health realities targeting 90 young children at K Child Care Center where is located in Gangwon-do Province from 10 to 11, June, 2011. As a result, DMF rate accounted for 56.7%. D rate accounted for 42.2%. The young children with the higher age, height in 100~110cm, and weight in 25 kg were indicated to be higher in DF rate than other toddlers. The young children with height in 110~115 cm were indicated to be higher in prevalence of dental caries in deciduous teeth than other young children. It was indicated that the young children in the higher age and weight leads to the higher in DFT index and DFS index. It was indicated that the young children in the more overweight leads to the higher in the index of dental caries in primary teeth, the filling deciduous teeth index, DFT index, DMFS, and DFS index. Accordingly, the child care center needs to systematically perform the oral health education and oral health management for young children, to allow Young children to acquire right food habit, and to pay close attention even to selecting snack.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Numerous researches have studied the association between sugar intake and obesity of children in many countries. This study was undertaken to investigate the association between beverage intake and obesity of children by reviewing a database for total sugar contents established in all foods and presented in a nutrition survey by the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data of 1,520 children aged 6-11 years in the 6th KNHANES (2013-2015) were analyzed for this study. A database for total sugar intake comprises the total sugar contents of all foods included in the results of a nutrition survey using the 24-hour recall method of 6th KNHANES. Beverages were categorized into carbonated beverages, fruit & vegetable drinks, other drinks, tea, and coffee. RESULTS: The average daily beverage intake of all children was 131.75 g/day, and the average daily total sugar intake in beverages was 13.76 g/day. Carbonated beverages had the highest intake rate (58.85 g/day) and also ranked highest for sugar intake (6.36 g/day). After adjusting for confounding variables, the odds ratio for obesity in children with beverage intake of ${\geq}200mL/day$ significantly increased by 1.83 times (95% CI, 1.11-3.00) as compared to children with beverage intake of < 200 mL/day. Also, a significant increase was observed in the odds ratio for obesity in total children (2.41 times; 95% CI, 1.35-4.33) and boys (3.15 times; 95% CI, 1.53-6.49) with carbonated beverage intake of ${\geq}200mL/day$ when compared with children who consumed < 200 mL/day. CONCLUSION: A positive association is observed between beverage intake and obesity in Korean children. In particular, an intake of carbonated beverages has a positive correlation with childhood obesity in boys. This study can therefore be used as scientific evidence for reducing sugar, and for the continuous management and research on beverages.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.179-186
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• 2019

Purpose: Information about overweight and obesity among students in rural areas of Thailand is limited. Therefore, we aimed to determine overweight and obesity prevalences and associated factors among school-aged children in a rural community of Thailand. Methods: We selected 9 public schools through cluster sampling in 2 provinces located in central Thailand in 2016. Anthropometric measurements were measured using standard techniques, classified as overweight (>1 standard deviation [SD]) and obese (>2 SD) with respect to their age and sex using 2007 World Health Organization reference charts. Standardized questionnaires on risk factors were sent to parents to be completed together with their child. Results: Among 1,749 students, 8.98% had overweight and 7.26% had obesity. Mean age (range) was 11.5 years (5-18 years). Independent factors associated with overweight and obesity included primary school student (reference as secondary school) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-4.08; P=0.07), mother's body mass index (aOR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.12; P=0.001), self-employed father (aOR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.12-3.55; P=0.018), number of siblings (aOR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47-0.81; P=0.001), having sibling(s) with obesity (aOR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.20-2.77; P=0.005), more than one (aOR, 7.16; 95% CI, 2.40-21.32; P<0.001), consuming 2-3 ladles of rice/meal (aOR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.38-3.32; P=0.001), consuming >3 ladles of rice/meal (aOR, 2.69; 95% CI, 1.11-6.46; P=0.27), watching <2 hours of television/day (aOR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.19-4.01; P=0.012), and watching >2 hours of television/day (aOR, 2.60; 95% CI, 1.36-4.96; P=0.004). Conclusion: Many sociodemographic, dietary, and behavioral factors were related to overweight and obesity among school-aged children not only in urban but also rural communities of Thailand.