• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.501-508
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• 2022

It has been found that the incidence and mortality of COVID-19 are high in patients with underlying chronic diseases. Amid COVID-19 pandemic, tooth brushing is as important as hand washing for health care. The aim of this study was to identify factors related to the rate of tooth brushing and hand washing in hypertensive patients. We analyzed 62,762 hypertensive patients over the age of 40 from the Community Health Survey 2020. The practice rate of hand washing was higher among women, younger age, higher education level, mask wearers when going out, and tooth brushing practitioners after lunch. The hand washing practice rate was higher in hypertensive patients who practiced tooth brushing. In conclusion, there was the relationship between oral hygiene and personal quarantine. It is necessary to prepare sustainable measures to increase the practice rate of infectious disease prevention behaviors for patients with underlying chronic diseases who are susceptible to COVID-19.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.373-381
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• 2007

The elderly population in Korea is growing rapidly and their nutritional status is not acceptable. Data were collected from the self-administered questionnaire of 495 free living elderly, over 65years old, in Korea to asses the intake and consumption pattern of milk and dairy products. The questionnaire contains demographics, health related characteristics, and perception on milk, and consumption behaviors of milk and dairy products. Most of the elderly subjects understood that milk is good foods in terms of nutritive value and health. And 67% of the subjects satisfied with the sanitation status of milk on the markets. The kind of milk that majority of the subjects consumed was whole milk, and only 5.1% of them consumed low fat milk. Less than 20% of the subjects consumed milk everyday, living alone group consumed milk less frequently than living with others. It was found that the majority of the elderly subjects did not meet current recommendation for milk. Liquid and curd type yogurt were the major dairy products used among elderly, and the reasons were good taste and digestion. They believed that these kinds of dairy products help constipation and digestion problems. The price of milk was ranked for the first factor needed to be considered for milk and dairy products consumption in elderly korean.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.300-306
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• 2010

Purpose : Recent changes in the population structure of Korea, such as rapid decline in birth rate and exponential increase in old-aged people, prompted us to prepare a new health improvement program in children and adolescents. Methods : We reviewed current health screenings applied for children and adolescents in Korea and other developed countries. We collected and reviewed population-based data focused on mortality and morbidity, and other health-related statistical data. We generated problem lists in current systems and developed new principles. Results : Current health screening programs for children and adolescents were usually based on laboratory tests, such as blood tests, urinalysis, and radiologic tests. Almost all of these programs lacked evidence based on population data or controlled studies. In most developed countries, laboratory tests are used only very selectively, and they usually focus on primary prevention of diseases and health improvement using anticipatory guidance. In Korea, statistics on mortality and morbidity reveal that diseases related to lifestyle, such as obesity and metabolic syndrome, are increasing in all generations. Conclusion : We recommend a periodic health screening program with anticipatory guidance, which is focused on growth and developmental surveillance in infants and children. We no longer recommend old programs that are based on laboratory and radiologic examinations. School health screening programs should also be changed to meet current health issues, such as developing a healthier lifestyle to minimize risk behaviors—or example, good mental health, balanced nutrition, and more exercise.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.20-30
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• 2000

Objective : This study was designed to investigate the frequencies and the relation of stressful life events and health problems and evaluate the influence of stressful life events on the physical symptoms and anxiety in adolescents. Method : Newcomb's 39-item life-event questionnaire and Newcomb's 19-item health problems questionnaire were administered to 475 adolescents. The frequencies of stressful life events and health problems which had actually occurred to them during the previous 12 months were investigated. Items of stressful life events were classified in 8 dimensional scaling factors(Family/parents, Accident/Illness, Sexuality, Autonomy, Deviance, Relocation, Distress, Items not in scales) and items of health problems were classified in 5 health problems(General, Heart and Lung, Nervous system, Anxiety, Psychosomatic symptoms) and the correlation between them was analyzed. Result : 1) The average number of events occurring during the past year for the 475 adolescents is 3(7.7%). The most frequent item of stressful life events was 'Thought about suicide' and dimensional factors of "Distress" and "Autonomy" were the most frequent life events in multidimensional sacling analysis. There were more factors of "Family/Illness" and " Autonomy" in male, while there was more factor of "Distress" in female. There were more factors of "School violence" and "Deviance" in younger students, while there were more factors of "Sexuality" and "Autonomy" in older students. 2) The most frequent item of health problem was 'excessive fatigue' and "anxiety" was most frequent health problem in multidimensional scaling analysis. There were more health problems in female than those in male. The higher grades the students became, the more health problems they have reported. 3) There was significant relationship between 7 factors of stressful life events except one factor of "Relocation" and 5 health problems. Conclusions : These findings suggest that as adolescents grow older, they are engaging in more controllable behaviors related to autonomy and sexuality and at the same time are experiencing increased difficulty with distressful or discomforting events, and their stressful life events are significantly related to decreased health and psychological functiong.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.79-89
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• 2010

Objectives: This study aims to identify health status and health risks among female marriage immigrants to Korea and to provide a basis for public health strategies to address their health issues. Methods: The participants of the study were 3,069 immigrant wives. The health examination was conducted by the Korea Association of Health Promotion (KAHP) in 2008. The participants also completed self-administered questionnaires on demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors and mental health. Results: Patterns of immigrant women's health problems differed by age and country of origin. Behavior patterns also differed by their heritage, age, and years of residence in Korea. Generally Vietnamese women fell in lower ranges of disease prevalence and health risk factors in the participant group and Japanese women presented most healthy eating habits. Filipina women showed relatively high disease prevalence than any other group. Conclusion: Immigration to Korea by marriage is relatively a new phenomenon, thus continuing surveillance and research are needed to identify health risks, behavior patterns, and their relationships. Interventions and policies for the health of migrant wives, their children and families are required.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2010

Green or an environmental consciousness has been a major issue for businesses and government offices, as well as consumers, worldwide. In response to this movement, the Korean government announced, in the early 2000s, the era of "Green Growth" as a way to encourage green-related business activities. The Korean fashion industry, in various levels of involvement, presents diverse eco-friendly products as a part of the green movement. These apparel products include organic products and recycled clothing. For these companies to be successful, they need information about who are the consumers who consider green issues (e.g., environmental sustainability) as part of their personal values when making a decision for product purchase, use, and disposal. These consumers can be considered as eco-sumers. Previous studies have examined consumers' purchase intention for or with eco-friendly products. In addition, studies have examined influential factors used to identify the eco-sumers or green consumers. However, limited attention was paid to eco-sumers' disposal or recycling behavior of clothes in comparison with their green product purchases. Clothing disposal behaviors are ways that consumer can get rid of unused clothing and in clue temporarily lending the item or permanently eliminating the item by "handing down" (e.g., giving it to a younger sibling), donating, exchanging, selling, or simply throwing it away. Accordingly, examining purchasing behaviors of eco-friendly fashion items in conjunction with clothing disposal behaviors should improve understanding of a consumer's clothing consumption behavior from the environmental perspective. The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide descriptive information about Korean eco-sumers who have ecologically-favorable lifestyles and behaviors when buying and disposing of clothes. The objectives of this study are to (a) categorize Koreans on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors; (b) investigate the differences in demographics, lifestyles, and clothing consumption values among segments; and (c) compare the purchase intention of eco-friendly fashion items and influential factors among segments. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on previous studies. The questionnaire included 10 items of clothing disposal behavior, 22 items of LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) characteristics, and 19 items of consumption values, measured by five-point Likert-type scales. In addition, the purchase intention of two eco-friendly fashion items and 11 attributes of each item were measured by seven-point Likert type scales. Two polyester fleece pullovers, made from fabric created from recycled bottles with the PET identification code, were selected from one Korean brand and one US imported brand among outdoor sportswear brands. A brief description of each product with a color picture was provided in the survey. Demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, marital status, education level, income, occupation) were also included. The data were collected through a professional web survey agency during May 2009. A total of 600 final usable questionnaires were analyzed. The age of respondents ranged from 20 to 49 years old with a mean age of 34 years. Fifty percent of the respondents were males and about 58% were married, and 62% reported having earned university degrees. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to identify the underlying dimensions of the clothing disposal behavior scale, and three factors were generated (i.e., reselling behavior, donating behavior, non-recycling behavior). To categorize the respondents on the basis of clothing disposal behaviors, k-mean cluster analysis was used, and three segments were obtained. These consumer segments were labeled as 'Resale Group', 'Donation Group', and 'Non-Recycling Group.' The classification results indicated approximately 98 percent of the original cases were correctly classified. With respect to demographic characteristics among the three segments, significant differences were found in gender, marital status, occupation, and age. LOHAS characteristics were reduced into the following five factors: self-satisfaction, family orientation, health concern, environmental concern, and voluntary service. Significant differences were found in the LOHAS factors among the three clusters. Resale Group and Donation Group showed a similar predisposition to LOHAS issues while the Non-Recycling Group presented the lowest mean scores on the LOHAS factors compared to the other segments. The Resale and Donation Groups described themselves as enjoying or being satisfied with their lives and spending spare-time with family. In addition, these two groups cared about health and organic foods, and tried to conserve energy and resources. Principal components factor analysis generated clothing consumption values into the following three factors: personal values, social value, and practical value. The ANOVA test with the factors showed differences primarily between the Resale Group and the other two groups. The Resale Group was more concerned about personal value and social value than the other segments. In contrast, the Non-Recycling Group presented the higher level of social value than did Donation Group. In a comparison of the intention to purchase eco-friendly products, the Resale Group showed the highest mean score on intent to purchase Product A. On the other hand, the Donation Group presented the highest intention to purchase for Product B among segments. In addition, the mean scores indicated that the Korean product (Product B) was more preferable for purchase than the U.S. product (Product A). Stepwise regression analysis was used to identify the influence of product attributes on the purchase intention of eco product. With respect to Product A, design, price and contribution to environmental preservation were significant to predict purchase intention for the Resale Group, while price and compatibility with my image factors were significant for the Donation Group. For the Non-Recycling Group, design, price compatibility with the factors of my image, participation to eco campaign, and contribution to environmental preservation were significant. Price appropriateness was significant for each of the three clusters. With respect to Product B, design, price and compatibility with my image factors were important, but different attributes were associated significantly with purchase intention for each of the three groups. The influence of LOHAS characteristics and clothing consumption values on intention to purchase Products A and B were also examined. The LOHAS factor of health concern and the personal value factor were significant in the relationships with the purchase intention; however, the explanatory powers were low in the three segments. Findings showed that each group as classified by clothing disposal behaviors showed differences in the attributes of a product, personal values, and the LOHAS characteristics that influenced their purchase intention of eco-friendly products. Findings would enable organizations to understand eco-friendly behavior and to design appropriate strategic decisions to appeal eco-sumers.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.418-426
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• 2013

This study was conducted in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. In this study, picky eating behaviors were defined as containing four constructs of 'eating a small amount (ES),' 'neophoic behavior (NB),' 'refusal of specific food groups (RF),' and 'preference for specific food-preparation methods (PP).' A 7-point scale was used for the multi-item questionnaire, which consisted of 21 items (three items for ES, two items for NB, nine items for RF, and seven items for PP), in order to evaluate picky eating behaviors of children. Subjects were recruited among visitors at a medical clinic in Seoul. A total of 150 self-administered survey responses from parents of preschool children were analyzed in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. Height for age (HFA) and weight for height (WFH) z-scores were used for assessment of preschool children's growth. The prevalence of ES, NB, RF, and PP was 44%, 57%, 73%, and 53%, respectively. Children with ES had lower HFA (p < 0.05) and WFH (p < 0.0001) than those without ES, while children with NB, RF, or PP had HFA and WFH were similar to their counterparts. The mean HFA z-score of children with ES was less than 0 (p < 0.05) and the mean WFH z-scores of children with ES, NB, RF, or PP were less than 0 (p < 0.05). According to the study results, related growth outcome differed depending on constructs of picky eating behaviors. In particular, picky eating of ES showed a risk of faltering height growth in preschool children. Further comprehensive studies on the reason for ES and intervention approach is warranted.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.87-100
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• 2011

Objectives: This study aimed to identify factors associated with smoking relapse. Methods: The study sample was recruited among subjects who were enrolled in the smoking cessation clinic of a public health center and had succeeded in quitting smoking for at least six months. A total of 159 male subjects were followed via mail survey one year later. The independent variables in the analyses were socio-demographic characteristics, smoking history and behavior, receipt of smoking cessation aids, health behaviors and components of the health belief model (HBM). The dependent variable was smoking relapse assessed one year after quitting. Ordered logit regressions were used to identify factors associated with smoking relapse. Results: The relapse rate of the ex-smokers in our sample was 25.8%, and the occasional smoking rate was 17.0%. Univariate analyses revealed that only factors related to the HBM, such as perceived susceptibility to diseases (p<0.01), perceived severity of diseases (p<0.01), perceived health benefits of not smoking (p<0.01), perceived barriers to quitting smoking due to increasing stress and difficulty in social life (p<0.01), and self-efficacy (p<0.01) were associated with the likelihood of relapse for ex-smokers. Ordered logit analyses yielded two significant factors affecting the likelihood of relapse, the perceived barriers to quitting smoking and self-efficacy. Conclusions: Our results indicate that higher levels of barriers to quitting smoking and lower levels of self-efficacy were significantly related to risk of smoking relapse. These findings may be useful for identifying those at highest risk for relapse and choosing the optimal strategies for prevention of relapse for ex-smokers.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.255-270
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the consumption of convenience foods among Korean adolescents. Methods: This study had a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from the 15th (2019) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, which involved a nationwide representative sample of 57,303 middle- and high-school students. Convenience-food consumption was defined by frequency of adolescents consuming convenience foods obtained from convenience stores, supermarkets, and cafeterias over the previous 7 days. The analyzed variables were related to sociodemographic, mental health, and health behavior. The Rao-Scott χ² test was applied to examine the difference in the rate of consuming convenience foods obtained from convenience stores according to each factor. Hierarchical logistic regression was conducted to examine the factors that influence convenience-food consumption among Korean adolescents. Results: It was found that 29.1% of Korean adolescents consumed convenience foods obtained from convenience store more than three times per week. The significant influencing factors were female sex; low subjective academic achievement, and subjective household economic status; high perceived stress; low subjective sleep sufficiency; experience of depression; suicidal ideation; lower physical activity; skipping breakfast; lower consumptions of fruit, milk, and vegetables; higher consumptions of soda drinks, sweet drinks, caffeine, and fast food; lower water intake; current smoking and drinking; drug use; and experience of violence. Conclusion: These findings provide a better understanding of the sociodemographic, mental-health, and health-behavior factors that influence the consumption of convenience foods among Korean adolescents. We suggest that differentiated policies, strategies, and nutrition education need to be developed and implemented, in order to address the above-mentioned factors and thereby reduce such behaviors among Korean adolescents.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.79-92
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• 2003

Objectives: To investigate the reinfection rate of Helicobacter pylori and the factors related to reinfection of H. pylori, 86 persons were examined in April 2000 after 1 year follow-up period and 77 persons were examined in October 2001 after two and a half-year follow-up period in Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. Methods: The subjects were confirmed as H. pylori negative by urea breath test(UBT), and asked to answer the questionnaire regarding demographic characteristics, dyspepsia symptoms, health-related behaviors and family history. Results: The reinfection rate on the first year of the eradication of H. pylori was 15.6%, when the 77 subjects have finished follow-up observation for one year. In the urea breath test performed after two and a half year, 13 out of 77 were positive, with the reinfection rate of 16.9%. Age, sex, socio-economical status, educational level and family history were not associated with the reinfection, while there was significant association between the reinfection and postprandial fullness and epigastric bloating in subjective dyspepsia that the subjects who were determined to be negative in the urea breath test for the following year. The treatment compliance and drinking were significant variables in univariate analysis. Meanwhile, the cases in which the dyspepsia symptom scores for the recent year were 2 to 3 points served as the only statistically significant variable in multiple logistic regression analysis, with the odds ratio of 4.5. The cases in which salt intake during meals was exceeded were 8.7 in the odds ratio, but statistically insignificant. Conclusions: Conclusively, the first-year reinfection rate was 15.6%, and the second-year reinfection rate was 16.9%. Thecomplaints of subjective dyspeptic symptoms and the treatment compliance, as the basis for predicting the H. pylori reinfection in communities, can be used as the basis to screen the subjects for follow-up examination to find out H. pylori infection.