• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.95-103
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• 2016

Food habit forming the basis for a lifetime of food and nutrient intake is established in early childhood and has an effect to the child's growth, sociality, and obesity. A variety of nutrition screening tools exists for assessing the health and nutrition status of children such as the Growth Curve, for determining if growth is appropriate. Body mass index(BMI) as a more reliable index of overweight to prevent childhood obesity, and Nutrition Quotient(NQ) and eating behaviors questionnaire for young children and parents to estimate their nutrient intake adequate or not. Such tools are mainly used by health practitioners, such as doctor and dietitian to provide nutrition intervention services to children at risk, especially and are not easy to use for general parents, who need assessment at any time and at any place. We propose Growth Assistance System for infants and children, which is possible to assess their physical condition, nutritional status, and eating behavior integrated. To be convenient and portable, it is implemented over the smartphone as an application. The system offers the growth charts, the BMI curves, NQ and eating behavior questionnaire to take a monitoring and the functionalities operate well. We hereby expect this system support the normal growth and development of infants and young children. And also support for the health practitioner (dietitians and nutritionists) to take a role in providing nutrition counseling and education to children needing nutrition services.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.927-938
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• 2008

The principal objective of this study was to identify the dietary and physical activity patterns of obese preschoolers, and to determine the association between child obesity and mother's' dietary habits or thoughts regarding dieting/weight. This is a cross-sectional, community based study, and 305 preschoolers who attended kindergarten in Seoul and its surrounding area were selected. The measurements of dietary habits both in preschoolers and their mothers, physical activities of preschoolers, and daily servings of foods were based on parents' self report. Weight and height were used to calculate WLI (weight length index) in preschoolers and BMI (body mass index) in their mothers. The subjects were divided into two groups 245 normal weight preschoolers (including underweight 15.1% and normal weight 65.6%) and 59 obese subjects (overweight 14.4% and obese 4.9%). With regard to dietary habits in normal and obese preschoolers, we noted significant differences in 5 questions, such as mostly eating heavy meals, one serving size, eating speed, overeating, and obsession about eating. No differences in daily servings of major foods and snacks, except fruits and potatoes, were noted between normal and obese children. Among 13 questions regarding mothers' dietary habits, only 3 questions-"preferred to instant foods", "finish meals within 15 minutes", "use nutritional information for selecting foods" were significantly different between normal and obese subjects. The total scores of mothers' dietary habits was significantly and negatively correlated with number of mother's dieting experiences or mother's BMI, but was not correlated with preschooler's obesity.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.8
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• pp.804-811
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• 2008

Purpose : Childhood obesity is a problem that places a child at great risk for becoming an obese adult. To prevent obesity, it is important to focus on early life risk factors that may contribute to childhood obesity. The aim of this study is to find obesity-causing infantile risk factors in preschool children. Methods : A total of 223 children aged 3 to 5 years old from Busan were the subjects of this study. We calculated their body mass index (BMI) and classified them into two groups (normal weight and overweight/obese children). Information regarding parental weight and height, mother's educational level and employment status, birth weight, feeding patterns, start time of weaning, duration of night feeding, and fosterer was obtained by using questionnaires. Results : There were 68 (30.5%) overweight/obese children and 155 (69.5%) normal weight children. Overweight/obese children were significantly associated with formula milk feeding, rapid weight gain during the first 6 months, and maternal obesity (P<0.05). There were no statistical differences in paternal obesity, mothers educational level and employment status, birth weight, start time of weaning, duration of night feeding, and fosterer between the normal and overweight/obese children. Conclusion : Although healthy diet and regular exercise will remain the cornerstones of weight management in obese children, our data supports the view that education about maintaining a normal weight could be introduced much earlier in families with high-risk children.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.436-444
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• 2002

This study surveyed 146 obese elementary school children(94 male and 52 female) in Seoul, and measured height, body weight, degree of obesity, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, serum lipid profiles and liver function. The hypertension was above 95 percentile depending on age and sex. and the hyperglycemia was defined as above 110mg/dl. The hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia were defined as above 200mg/dl, 160mg/dl, repectively. The abnormal liver function was considered as elevated alanine aminotransferase(ALT>35IU/L)or aspartate aminotransferase(AST>35IU/L). The results were as follows: 1. The mean degree of obesity was $29.56\pm12.56\%$, and the percentage of overweight was $18.5\%$, mild obesity $41.1\%$, moderate obesity $35.6\%$, severe obesity $4.8\%$ respectively in surveyed children. 2. The systolic blood pressure was $108.34\pm13.73mmHg$, diastolic blood pressure was $67.46\pm8.27mmHg$. 3. FBS was $93.79\pm6.51mg/dl$. 4. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, ALT and AST were $183.34\pm31.38mg/dl$. $115.55\pm56.43mg/dl,\;24.08\pm18.42IU/L,\; 28.73\pm10.45IU/L,$ respectively. 5. The prevalence of complications was $47.2\%$ : hypertension$(13\%)$, hyperglycemia$(0.7\%)$, hypercholesterolemia$(23.3\%)$, hypertriglyceridemia$(17.1\%)$, and liver dysfunction$(21.9\%)$. In conclusion. childhood obesity is associated with various risk factors. Therefore, the aggressive approaches to successful prevention, early detection, and effective treatment of obesity in children are urgently required.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.11 no.sup1
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• pp.102-108
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• 2008

More children today are overweight or obese than ever before. childhood obesity results from an imbalance between the amount of energy consumed and the amount of energy expended. Whether child want to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, it's important to balance between the calories body takes in and uses. Obesity treatment programs for children and adolescents is to slow or halt weight gain so the child will grow into his or her body weight over a period of months to years. Fasting or extreme caloric restriction is not advisable for children. More physical activity is a key element in the prevention and treatment of obesity. Children can't change their exercise and eating habits by themselves. They need the help and support of their families and parents. Children and adolescents who are just beginning to be physically active should start out slowly and gradually build to higher levels in order to prevent the risk of injury or feel defeated from unrealistic goals. It is important that children and adolescents are encouraged to be physically active by doing things that interest them. FUN physical activities that kids choose to do on their own are often best. Kids need about 60 minutes of physical activity a day, but this does not have to happen all at once. Several short 10- or even 5-minute periods of activity throughout the day are just as good. FUN physical activities will help them establish an active lifestyle early on. Obese people need care not for a short period, but throughout their lives.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.97-112
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to develop a nutrition education curriculum with teacher's guide which includes discretionary activities for obese children. A survey was carried out to investigate the recognition of body image and food behaviors according to the obesity index (mild, moderate, severe) in school children (4~6th grade, 158 boys and 60 girls) who were selected based on a physical examination in May, 2006 in the Gyeongnam province. Next, a nutrition education curriculum with teacher's guide was developed on the basis of the findings from the survey and from preceding researches. The results are summarized as follow. The results of this study showed the existence of some nutritional problems such as overeating, prejudice, skipping meals, snacking patterns, etc, which indicate the need for nutritional management for obese children. Most overweight children (80.3%) showed the most interest in the nutrition education program, particularly with regards to dieting for weight control (64.7%). The developed nutrition education curriculum consisted of 8 main subjects and 13 subtitles. The curriculum was prepared for 13 lessons and included songs and singing, making-up lyrics, games about nutrition, discussions of the experience of eating (satiety, thirst, hunger), debates on dietary habits, writing and others to promote the interest for learning. We aimed to develop this program in an attempt to improve the dietary habits of obese school children. This is very important because once a dietary habit is formed in adults, it is difficult to change and the best adjustable stage is during childhood. Therefore, early nutrition education during elementary school can change and build-up the awareness of health in young elementary school children.