• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.24
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• pp.107-133
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• 2011

As importance of English has been getting more important with globalization, English education for preschoolers has drawn more attention from parents who were born in 1970's and 1980's. Demands for English education are very intense mainly because parent generation has experienced importance of English through own career and they have only one or two children, resulting parents' willingness to invest more on children's education. In order to response high demands for English education, Korean public education system has introduced more intense English education curriculum for younger children and put more weights on English education even for preschoolers. Even though there are numbers of studies to support effectiveness of English education for pre-school age children, adaption of English education for them without through preparation may cause unwanted results on children's learning experience. Hence, it is imperative to develop guideline for English education targeting pre-school age children based on through studies. The purpose of this paper is to justify English education for preschoolers based on various theories for language acquisition, research effectiveness of edutainment animation for English education, and provide basic guideline to develop edutainment animation in the future. To achieve this goal, this study visits how each theory emphasizes importance of language education in preschool age children and analyzes well-known edutainment animation titles by comparing them per characteristics. Furthermore, specifically from participation-inducing animation for education, each component, such as characters, story structure, & story telling methods, has been discussed. Based on the findings from this paper, basic guidelines to develop edutainment animation are developed by suggesting teaching tools for English education for preschoolers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.119-128
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• 2009

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a self-efficacy promotion program on obesity in elementary school students. Methods : Forty five obese children from a elementary school were select for an experimental group and 53 obese children from another elementary school were chosen for the control group. Both schools located in Kimpo area. Obesity was defined as children whose age-specific BMI was 85th percentile or higher. Pre and post test were conducted to examine the effects of the self-efficacy promotion program. Chi-square test, t-test, paired t-test were used for analyses. SPSS 10.0 was used. Results : The decrease of BMI was significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group. Students' knowledge about obesity was significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the control group. Self-efficacy score was significantly increased in the experimental group. In addition, self-care behavior score was significantly increased in the experimental group. Therefore, the experimental group showed significant improvement in their knowledge, self-efficacy and self-care behavior compared to the control group. Conclusion : The results of this study suggest that self-efficacy promotion programs may have significant effects on the management of obesity in elementary school children. Thus, the results strengthen further research to develop effective intervention programs focusing on self-efficacy for obesity in elementary school children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.344-351
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• 2015

Purpose: During the recent decades, the age at menarche continued to decline in Korea and worldwide. Prior studies have suggested that early menarche may increase the risk of various social, psychological, and physical health problems in young adolescent girls, but little is known about the determinants associated with early menarche. The purpose of this study is to evaluate independent determinants of early menarche among 5th~6th female graders in South Korea. Methods: Our analysis was conducted in 95 menarcheal girls and 95 age-matched pre-menarcheal girls residing in Daegu, South Korea. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics were collected using survey questionnaires for children and parents. Dietary information was assessed by 2 day~24 hour food records and survey questionnaires, which were completed by both children and their parents. Anthropometric data were obtained from the student health check-ups at the school. Results: A multiple logistic regression analysis using a conditional likelihood method was performed for simultaneous evaluation of several risk factors. There were significant differences in that higher proportion of obesity (OR, odds ratio = 5.60, 95% CI, confidence interval = 1.34~23.42), shorter sleep duration (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23~0.87), and younger mother's age at menarche (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.44~0.93) were observed in the menarcheal group compared to the pre-menarcheal group. Conclusion: These findings indicate a possible association of sleep duration, mother's menarcheal age, and obesity with age at menarche. A well-planned, prospective cohort study is warranted to examine causal relationship.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.109-122
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• 2004

This study examined the characteristics of children, parents, family, and the extra context related to the parenting stress of employed and unemployed mothers from a broader perspective. The subjects were 323 employed mothers 3nd 300 unemployed mothers of pre-school age children. Parenting stress due to the role of being a parent for both employed and unemployed mothers was correlated with the chid's activity level, husband support, quality of life, available social support, and satisfaction of early childhood program's location. Parenting stress due to child-rearing of both employed and unemployed mothers was correlated with child's birth order, activity level and rhythmicity of child, husband support, quality of life, available social support, and satisfaction of early childhood program. Number of children was the strongest predictor of parenting stress due to the role of being a parent for employed mothers and the child's activity level for unemployed mothers. Besides, the child's activity level was the strongest predictor of parenting stress due to child-rearing for both employed and unemployed mothers.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2024

Background: Dental fear and anxiety are significant challenges in managing behavior in children. Oral administration of sucrose or sweet-tasting solutions has shown effectiveness in reducing procedural pain in infants and neonates. This study aimed to investigate whether pre-application of sucrose solution had an effect on minimizing pain perception during injection and to assess the potential impact of the child's age and sweet preference. Methods: A randomized control clinical trial was conducted on 60 children aged 3-9 years requiring buccal infiltration injections. Following parental consent, demographic data of the children were recorded. Sweet preferences was assessed using a modified forced-choice test. Children were equally and randomly allocated into study (sucrose) and control groups using a lottery method. Sucrose solution or distilled water, respectively, was applied to the lateral surface of the tongue for 2 min. Topical anesthetic was applied at the site of injection, followed by local anesthesia administration. The children rinsed their mouths thrice with water immediately after anesthetic injection. A video was recorded during injection which was then scored by three blinded examiners on the Sound Eye Motor (SEM) scale. The children also self-evaluated using Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale (WBFPS). Results: The mean SEM scores and WBFPS scores were analyzed using the Kruskall-Wallis test. The mean SEM score in the study group was 1.37 ± 0.61, compared to 3.17 ± 0.87 in the control group, showing a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). Mean pain scores assessed by WBFPS in the study group were 0.60 ± 1.4, while in the control group, they were 6.27 ± 2.33, also showing a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). Children with a sweet preference demonstrated a subjective reduction in pain perception. Conclusion: Application of sucrose before dental injections in children helps to minimize pain upon injection across all age groups.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.298-303
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• 2011

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical characteristics of vitamin D deficiency and its association with iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Methods: A total of 171 children aged less than two years underwent 25-hydroxyvitamin $D_3$ tests between January 2007 and July 2009. The study was classified into two groups: normal and vitamin D insufficiency, by their vitamin 25-hydroxyvitamin $D_3$ levels. Results: In total, 120 children were in the normal group (mean age, body weight and heights $12.5{\pm}7.0$, $9.3{\pm}0.9$ kg and $76.8{\pm}1.1$ cm), and 51 children in the vitamin D insufficiency group ($9.9{\pm}5.4$ months, $9.0{\pm}0.9$ kg and $75.1{\pm}0.9$ cm). Vitamin D insufficiency was most commonly diagnosed in the spring (44%). The proportion of complete breast-feeding was higher in the insufficiency (92%), and 25.5% of the children in the deficient group also experienced IDA compared that 12% of normal group. Ten children in the insufficiency group experienced bony changes. Six children received calcitriol medication in the normal group, in whom the mean vitamin 25-hydroxyvitamin $D_3$ level increased from $39.6{\pm}14.6$ ng/mL (pre-medication) to $41.8{\pm}17.2$ ng/mL (post-medication), and 13 in the insufficiency group, in whom the mean vitamin 25-hydroxyvitamin $D_3$ increased from $20.7{\pm}7.0$ ng/mL to a mean post-treatment level of $43.7{\pm}23.8$ ng/mL. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that approximately 30% of children aged ${\leq}2$ years experienced vitamin D insufficiency associated with subclinical rickets. Many children also experienced concurrent IDA. Guidelines for vitamin D supplement in such children must therefore be established.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.99-108
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• 2003

This study was based on theories of the culture of poverty and the causes and consequences of poverty. The strong relationship of family income to mother's education presents the possibility of an intergenerational education cycle. Using a longitudinal approach, parental poverty status was measured by family income, welfare assistance, single parent, and occupation when children were 2 years of age; children's school performance was measured by teacher reports of their reading, mathematics, writing, and overall ability at grade 1. Data were analyzed by structure equation modeling. Results showed that mother's pre-childbearing level of education predicted child school performance in grade 1, confirming an intergenerational cycle. In addition, the results indicated that parental poverty acts as a mediator between the cycle.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.85-95
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an attachment improvement program for families adopting an older child. The objectives and contents of this program reflected on the experiences of adopted parents and the characteristics of older-age adoptee children with attachment disruption. The program consisted of three components: parent-child relationship building, parenting skills enhancement for adopted parents, and negative emotions mediation for the older-age adoptees. The subjects of program were eight parent-child dyads. Differences between pre- and post-test data showed statistically significant improvements in the quality of parent-child relationships, communication levels with parents, and the parents' autonomic levels. There was also a reduction in the children's social problems. The implications of this study were discussed in terms of improving parent-child attachments in families adopting an older child.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.43 no.4 s.136
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• pp.129-134
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• 2005

To determine the status of Enterobius vermicularis infection among children living on western and southern coastal islands of the Republic of Korea, children (3-10 years) in 39 kindergartens and primary schools were examined using the cello-tape anal swab method, during July and August 2000. Of 1,661 children examined, $307(18.5\%) $were found to be positive for E. vermicularis eggs. The highest infection rate $(59.3\%)$ was found in a kindergarten and a branch school of Shinyang primary school on Chujado, Jeju-do (Province), Remarkable differences in egg positive rates were observed in different localities. The egg positive rate for boys $(21.3\%)$ was significantly higher than that of girls $(15.4\%)$ (P=0.02). However, positive rates were not significantly dependent on age. The results of the present study show that E. vermicularis infection is highly prevalent among pre-school and primary school children living on the western and southern coastal islands of the Republic of Korea, and indicate the need for efforts to control this infection.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2023

Objectives: Tic disorders are highly heritable; however, growing evidence suggests that environmental factors play a significant role in their pathogenesis. Studies on these factors have been inconsistent, with conflicting results. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the associations of pre- and perinatal exposure to Tourette syndrome (TS) or chronic tic disorders (CTD) in Korean school-aged children. Methods: This case-control study used data from a large prospective cohort study. The primary outcome was TS/CTD diagnosis according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) criteria and Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version-Korean Version. Demographic, pre-, and perinatal information was obtained from the maternal questionnaires. Data between the TS/CTD and control groups were compared using the chi-squared or Student's t-test, as appropriate. Two-step logistic regression analyses were used to test the association between TS/CTD and pre- and perinatal risk factors. Results: We included of 223 children (78 with TS/CTD and 145 controls). Significant differences in the demographic data between the two groups were observed. The male sex ratio, mean parental age, parental final education level, and family history of tics were included as confounders. In the final adjusted multivariable model, TS/CTD was significantly associated with antiemetic exposure during pregnancy (odds ratio [OR]=16.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.49-185.22, p=0.02) and medically assisted reproduction (OR=7.89, 95% CI 2.28-27.28, p=0.01). Conclusion: Antiemetic exposure and medically assisted reproduction are significantly associated with the risk of TS/CTD. These results should be replicated in future prospective and gene-by-environment studies.