• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2006

This study is to compare the prevalence of obesity between Korean-American children and Korean children, and to investigate the role of environmental factors in obesity development. Prevalence of child obesity is compared by their residence, parents' anthropometric data, education and occupation, and the length of immigration, and birth place of the children. A total of 593 children between the ages of 9 and 12 were examined. 262 Korean-American children (KcUS group) from New Jersey, USA and 331 Korean children (KcK group) from Seoul, Korea were compared. KcUS group showed a higher obesity rate (male: 12.6% and female: 8.2%), compared to KcK group (male: 8.0% and female: 5.1 %). KcK male children showed lower weight and prevalence of obesity than Korean-American male children who lived in the United States for more than three years. Korean-American female children had higher weight and obesity rate than Korean female children. Waist circumference and hip circumference were also higher in obese children in both KcK and KcUS groups. The children who live in America had an odds ratio of 1.69 to be obese compared to KcK, while those born in America and those who have lived in America for more than 3 years had odds ratios of 1.53 and 1.25 to be obese, respectively. This study found that environmental factors, immigration to America for instance, could playa bigger role in child obese development than the genetic factor.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.832-839
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to survey the prevalence of obesity assessed on the basis of height and weight among students in primary and secondary schools in the metropolitan area of Seoul, Korea during the period of 1979 to 1996. The major findings are as follows ; 1) The fiftieth percentile values of BMI have increased more in mid-ranged age group than upper(16-17 years old) and lower(6-7 years old) ranged age groups. 2) The prevalence of obesity by standard weight of height was higher among male students than female students and students in the primary schools showed higher weight increase than adolescent age(12-17 years old) group. As a whole, the prevalence of obesity over last 18 years has increased 4.6 times in males and 3.2 times in females. 3) Judged on the basis of the BMI 90th, 95th percentile values of 1979 , the prevalence of obesity among male students showed higher increases than among female students. Higher increase was also observed among primary school students than among middle and high school students. Increase of weight was higher for the $\geq$95th percentile group than the 90-95th percentile group. 4) Judged on the basis of the BMI, 90th, 95 th percentile values of NHANES-I, the $\geq$95th percentile group showed higher increase in the prevalence of obesity than the 90-95th percentile group. According to the 1996 data, severe obesity group ($\geq$95th percentile) was about two times of NHANES-I in male primary school students, while the number for female middle and high school students was about 1/5 of NHANES-I.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.159-168
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• 2019

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Over the past few decades, Malaysia has been experiencing an increased prevalence of overweight and obesity that threatens the health of Malaysians. Poor dietary intake is one of the major contributors to the development of obesity and many non-communicable diseases. The dietary intakes of adults in Malaysia were assessed to determine the association between the dietary intake variables and the body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) measurements. This study examined whether the dietary intake achieved the recommended nutritional guidelines and compared the intakes between both sexes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The height, weight, and WC of four-hundred-and-ninety adults (n = 490) in Malaysia were measured using standard procedures. The three-day 24-hour dietary recalls were conducted on 422 out of the 490 adults and their dietary intakes were evaluated in detail. The selected dietary intake variables were used to determine the associations with the obesity indicators. RESULTS: Among the participants, 52.8% were overweight or obese. After data analysis, the mean energy intake was 1,550 kcal/day, in which male participants had a significantly higher energy and macronutrients intake than females. Protein consumption and its percentage of energy contribution exceeded the recommended range. The consumption of fruits, vegetables, and milk and milk products were lower than the recommended number of servings for a healthy diet. The male participants consumed significantly more servings of carbohydrate-based foods, meat, and fats, oils, and sweets than females. Among the selected dietary intake variables, only the carbohydrate intake was negatively associated with the BMI (Estimate b = -0.008) and WC measurements (Estimate b = -0.019) after adjusting for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: This study evaluated the dietary intakes of a sample of Malaysian adults and its association with the obesity indicators. The results highlight the need for improvements and modifications of the dietary intake of Malaysians to reduce the overweight and obesity rates.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.7
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• pp.261-268
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the time trends of waist circumference (WC) and waist-height ratio (WHR), and to present WC and WHR distributions with optimal WHR cutoff for abdominal obesity in Korean children and adolescents. Methods: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of data from 13,257 children and adolescents (6,987 boys and 6,270 girls) aged 6-18 years who were included in the third to sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2005-2015). Linear regression analyses were used to identify secular changes in WC and WHR by age, sex, and KNHANES waves. A receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the optimal WHR cutoff values for abdominal obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors. Results: The mean WC and WHR distributions from 2005 to 2015 showed no significant secular changes between the KNHANES 4 waves (P for trend ${\geq}0.05$ in all ages and both sexes). The mean WCs in the present study were lower than those in the 2007 Korean National Growth Charts. The mean WHR at ages <13 years was statistically higher in the boys than in the girls, but did not significantly differ between the sexes among those aged 13 to 18 years. The optimal WHR cutoff for abdominal obesity was 0.48 (area under the curve, 0.985; 95% confidence interval, 0.985-0.985) in the 13- to 18-year-old adolescents. Conclusion: WC and WHR showed no secular changes over 10 years. The optimal WHR cutoff for abdominal obesity of 0.48 is useful for diagnosing and managing obesity and thus preventing obesity-related cardiometabolic complications in 13- to 18-year-old Korean adolescents.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

Purpose : Sarcopenic obesity is associated with adverse health consequences in females. Nevertheless, there has been limited research on the hazardous components and prevailing rates of sarcopenic obesity among younger women. This study aimed to identify the hazardous components and prevailing rates of sarcopenic obesity in younger females. Methods : This study utilized data based on 2008~2011 from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys by the centers for disease control and prevention. The analysis was concentrated on a subset of 1,520 women aged between 30 and 39 years of age. The participants answered a questionnaire to gather demographic information. They then underwent a physical examination to measure the human detention variables, which was conducted utilizing bioelectrical impedance analysis. The blood pressure and blood laboratory tests were determined using established laboratory protocols for evaluating blood parameters. Results : This study included 1,520 patients aged 30~39 years old. The mean age of the participants was 34.97 (years)±2.74 and the overall prevailing rate was 1.84 %. The hazard components in human dimensions were the height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI). The hazard components in biochemical and blood pressure were high fasting glucose, increased triglyceride, elevated total cholesterol, high systolic blood pressure, and increased diastolic blood pressure with p-values <.05. Conclusion : This study examined the hazardous components and prevailing rates of sarcopenic obesity in younger women living in the community. The results contribute to the current body of knowledge on sarcopenic obesity and shed light on possible hazardous components in a younger female population. Based on these findings, there should be increased health and medical attention towards the prevention, management, and health promotion related to reducing risk factors for sarcopenic obesity in younger women.

• Korean Public Health Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.87-97
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• 2018

Background: Recently, the prevalence of obesity (body mass index [BMI] ${\geq}25kg/m^2$) has been increasing rapidly worldwide over a short period. In Korea, the prevalence of obesity has also increased rapidly due to the rapid socio-economic development and lifestyle changes, with differing patterns according to gender. This study aimed to compare the change in obesity prevalence according to gender among the adult population in Korea using representative data, the National Health Check-up Database (NHCD), to follow-up individuals who had undergone checkups during both years in Korea (2011~2013). Methods: To analyze the changes in obesity prevalence in the recent two years, data regarding men and women who had undergone health check-ups in both two years (2011, 2013) were extracted. The final study population comprised 144,934 persons: 83,604 (58%) males and 61,330 (42%) females. Chi-square test within a univariate analysis, and the level of factor difference was verified with t-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple comparison. Results: In 2011, one out of three participants was obese (BMI ${\geq}25kg/m^2$; male, 37.7%; female, 27.3%) and more than half of the subjects were overweight (BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$; male, 65.6%; female, 50.4%) requiring obesity management. For the two years, the BMI of the participants significantly increased (p < .0001) and the prevalence of obesity increased among both males and females. The prevalence of obesity was higher among both genders with a longer duration of smoking, more smoking, family history of hypertension, and family history of diabetes. However, residence, income level, drinking status, psychiatric disorder, disability status and severity of disability were the opposite gender. Conclusion: In the analysis of data, the prevalence of obesity among both men and women was increasing. The degree of change in the prevalence of obesity among men and women was different in each variable. Thus, it will need to consider gender in developing health policies for obesity mediation and to provide integrated healthcare and management for those people.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.496-504
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• 1997

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dietary intake, obesity index and psychosocial factors influencing obesity among 200 high school girls in Seoul. The Social Cognitive Theory provided the Conceptual basis for this study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine factors related to obesity, including self-efficacy for controlling overeating, social support for eating behavior, perception of body image and weight control, nutrition knowledge, and attitudes toward obesity. The data were analyzed using t-test and multiple logistic regression. The results of this study are as follows : 1) The mean age of the girls was 16.4 years, and the rate of overweight and obesity(measured by obesity index) was 27.0$\%$. 2) The mean energy intake of subjects was 1832.3$\pm$384.0kcal. The energy derived from carbohydrates, proteins and fats was 62.7$\%$, 13.8$\%$, and 23.5$\%$, respectively. There was no significant difference between the obese and the comparison group in energy intake. 3) The result of multivariate analysis indicated that obesity had a significant relation to the perception of ideal body image, social support for eating behavior, and self-efficacy for controlling overeating(p〈0.01). As subjects preferred thinner body images(OR=0.39) and received less social support(OR=0.93), the odds of being classified as obese increased. The odds of being obese were also associated with self-efficacy, however, the relation was not strong(OR=1.04). 4) Specific social support was related to obesity among adolescent girls. As subjects received more support from family member, the odds of being obese decreased. The emotional support as well as family member's positive nutrition behavior plays a significant role. In addition, instrumental support from friends was associated with obesity. With repect to self-efficacy, the odds of being obese were increased as subjects felt less confident in controlling overeating when tempting food was placed in front of them or after an argument. In contrast, the obese group felt more confident in controlling overeating for the rest of the specific situations examined. These findings suggest that educational interventions for weight control should incorporate strategies to help participants realize their degree of obesity, to reduce the discrepancy between current and ideal body image, to elicit and maintain social support from friends and family, and to increase the self-efficacy for changing eating behaviors. (Korean J Community Nutrition 2(4) : 496-504, 1997)

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1074-1080
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• 2016

Big data analysis refers the ability to store, manage and analyze collected data from an existing database management tool. Thus, meta-analysis is a statistical integration method that delivers an opportunity to overview the entire result of integrating and analyzing many quantitative research results. Commonly, factors of metabolic syndrome can be defined as abdominal obesity, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. In this meta-analysis, we concluded that the path between pre and post of the fasting blood glucose had the largest effect size of (r = -.324). Therefore, the effect of soybean food intervention showed an explanatory power of 10%. The second biggest effect size (r = .256) was found the path between pre and post in the waist circumference. Unfortunately, soybean food intake showed no improvement on abdominal obesity. Thus, we present the theoretical and practical implications of these results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.477-494
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• 2022

This study investigated the potential role of dietary factors associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Koreans. The scoping review method was used to evaluate the studies that utilized the secondary data sets comprising the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) and the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). Articles published between 2012 and 2022 were identified using RISS, KISS, DBpia, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases. In all, there were 32 published articles on obesity and 119 on MetS. Obesity research included eight articles on nutrients, 12 on food items/food groups, two on dietary patterns, nine on dietary behavior/eating habits, and one on the dietary index. MetS studies comprised 34 articles on nutrients, 43 on food items/food groups, seven on dietary patterns, 25 on dietary behavior/eating habits, and 10 on the dietary index. Carbohydrates, alcohol, and coffee consumption were the most frequently studied dietary factors for obesity and MetS. The primary areas of study were largely focused on nutrients and food items/food groups. Thus, to overcome the paucity of information on the relationship of dietary patterns and dietary indexes with obesity and MetS, there is a need for further research using the KNHANES and KoGES data sets.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.256-269
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of variables which were known to be related to blood pressure for discriminating between hypertensive and normotensive groups. Variables were obesity, serum lipids, life style-related variables such as smoking, alcohol, exercise, and stress, and demographic variables such as age, economical status, and education. The data were collected from 400 male clients who visited one university hospital located in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from May 1996 to December 1996 for a regular physical examination. Variables which showed significance for discriminating systolic blood pressure in this study were age, serum lipids, education, HDL, exercise, total cholesterol, body fat percent, alcohol, stress, and smoking(in order of significance). By using the combination of these variables, the possibility of proper prediction for a high-systolic pressure group was 2%, predicting a normal-systolic pressure group was 70.3%, and total Hit Ratio was 70%. Variables which showed significance for discriminating diastolic blood pressure were exercise, triglyceride, alcohol, smoking, economical status, age, and BMI (in order of significance). By using the combination of these variables, the possibility of proper prediction for a high-diastolic pressure group was 71.2%, predicting a normal-diastolic pressure group was 71.3%, and total Hit Ratio was 71.3%. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the association of systolic blood pressure with life style-related variables after adjustment for obesity, serum lipids, and demographic variables. First, the effect of demographic variable alone on the systolic blood pressure was statistically significant (p=.000) and adjusted $R^2$was 0.09. Adding the variable obesity on demographic variables resulted in raising adjusted $R^2$to 0.11 (p=.000) : therefore, the contribution rate of obesity on the systolic blood pressure was 2.0%. On the next step, adding the variable serum lipids on the obesity and demographic variables resulted in raising adjusted R2 to 0.12(P=.000) : therefore, the contribution rate of serum lipid on the systolic pressure was 1.0%. Finally, adding life style-related variables on all other variables resulted in raising the adjusted $R^2$to 0.18(p=.000) ; therefore, the contribution rate of life style-related variables on the systolic blood pressure after adjustment for obesity, serum lipids, and demographic variables was 6.0%. Multiple regression analysis was also performed to examine the association of diastolic blood pressure with life style-related variables after adjustment for obesity, serum lipids, and demographic variables. First, the effect of demographic variable alone on the diastolic blood pressure was statistically significant (p=.01) and adjusted $R^2$was 0.03. Adding the variable obesity on demographic variables resulted in raising adjusted $R^2$to 0.06 (p=.000) ; therefore, the contribution rate of obesity on the diastolic blood pressure was 3.0%. On the next step, adding the variable serum lipids on the obesity and demographic variables resulted in raising the adjusted $R^2$ to 0.09(p=.000) ; therefore, the contribution rate of serum lipid on the diastolic pressure was 3.0%. Finally, adding life style-related variables on all other variables resulted in raising the adjusted $R^2$ to 0.12 (p=.000) : therefore, the contribution rate of life style-related variables on the systolic blood pressure after adjustment for obesity, serum lipids, and demographic variables was 3.0%.