• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.33-44
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• 2011

The influence of nutrition during early life on physical growth as well as mental development has been thoroughly discussed in the literature. The physical dimensions of the body are greatly influenced by nutrition, particularly during the period of rapid growth in early childhood. Nutritional status affects every pediatric patient's response toillness. Good nutrition is important for achieving normal growth and development. It is indicated that permanent impairment of the central nervous system may result from dietary restriction of imbalance during certain periods of life. If children under 3 years of age show a good nutritional status, it may be assumed that they are well nourished. Several common diseases of children such as iron deficiency, chronic constipation and atopic dermatitis are known food related diseases. Patients with chronic illness and those at risk of malnutrition should have detailed nutritional assessments done. Components of a complete nutritional assessment include a medical history, nutritional history including dietary intake, physical examination, anthropometrics (weight, length or stature, head circumference, midarm circumference, and triceps skinfold thickness), pubertal staging, skeletal maturity staging, and biochemical tests of nutritional status. The use of age, gender, and disease-specific growth charts is essential in assessing nutritional status and monitoring nutrition interventions. Nutrition assessment and dietary counseling is helpful for the cure of disease, and moreover, the prevention of illness.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.12 no.sup1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2009

Nutritional assessment is based on anthropometric, clinical, dietary and biochemical data. There is a lack of studies about the propriety of biochemical indexes for the nutritional assessment in children despite biochemical data in pediatric population are different from them in adult's in many respects. Serum albumin is useful index to evaluate the severity of malnutrition. Hemoglobin and hematocrit tend to decrease in malnutrition on account of defect of iron metabolism and to increase in metabolic syndrome on account of enhancement of erythropoiesis. But, unlike adult, total lymphocyte count is not so useful biochemical indexes in children. We should consider pediatric characteristic when interpret biochemical indexes for nutritional assessment in children, and nutritional status in children should be assessed comprehensively with anthropometric, clinical, dietary and biochemical data.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.152-164
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• 2016

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the status and need for nutrition and dietary life education among nutrition teachers at schools. These characteristics were analyzed if they were different between elementary schools and middle-high schools. Methods: Subjects were 151 nutrition teachers from 70 elementary schools, 41 middle schools and 40 high schools in 17 cities nationwide selected by two-stage stratified cluster sampling process. Survey questionnaires included the items on general characteristics, status and need assessment for nutrition and dietary life education. Chi-square test or t-test was used for data analysis by school groups. Results: Nutrition education was implemented at 65.7% of elementary schools and 51.9% of middle-high schools. Nutrition education was mainly performed in 'discretionary activities extracurricular activities' at elementary school and through 'newsletters, school homepage, foodservice bulletin board' at middle-high school (p<0.001). The most needed topic for nutrition education in nutrition teachers was 'healthy dietary habits and table manners' and this was not significantly different by school groups. Responses on adequate frequency (p<0.01), methods used for nutrition education (p<001), materials for nutrition education (p<0.001), information sources for nutrition education (p<0.001) were significantly different by school groups. Major tasks for activating nutrition education included 'securing the time for implementing nutrition education by reducing work loads' and 'developing standardized nutrition education materials' in schools. Conclusions: Nutrition education at schools might be activated by improving working conditions of nutrition teachers and developing the practical programs that reflect the needs of nutrition teachers.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.7-24
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• 2022

Objective : To develop standardized assessment tools that evaluate the multi-aspect lifestyles of children and adolescents, we aimed to systematically analyze lifestyle assessment tools and lifestyle component-specific assessment tools. Methods : The study period was 2001-2020, with search engines using CINANL, NDSL, PubMed, and RISS. Search key words used 'lifestyle assessment' OR 'lifestyle profile' OR 'lifestyle test', 'physical activity assessment' OR 'physical activity participation profile', 'nutrition assessment' OR 'nutrition profile', 'activity participation assessment' OR 'activity participation profile'. Results : A total of 24 evaluation tools were selected after 5,883 studies reviewed the title, abstract, and full text after deduplication. The detailed results resulted in five lifestyle assessment tools, seven physical activity assessment tools, nine nutrition assessment tools, and three activity participation assessment tools. Conclusion : For the lifestyle assessment tools for children and adolescents, the component items, measurement methods, and age of assessment of each item were analyzed. It is hoped that this will be used as a basis for the development of standardized assessment tools to assess the multi-aspect lifestyles of children and adolescents in the future.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.90-99
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• 2021

Purpose: Nutrition screening is vital to ensure patients are appropriately managed in hospital. In paediatrics there is currently no universally accepted nutrition screening tool. The Nutrition Evaluation Screening Tool (NEST) was developed as an easy to use and practical screening tool for hospitalised children. We aim to evaluate compliance of the NEST and assess agreement of the NEST with the already validated nutrition screening tools, Screening Tool for Risk on Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids), Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition in Paediatrics (STAMP) and the Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment (SGNA) tool. Methods: Retrospective review of 102 patient episodes at the Evelina London Children's Hospital. Electronic records were used to assess NEST compliance and to complete the nutrition tools for each patient episode. Cohen's kappa was used to determine the level of agreement between each nutrition tool. Results: There was moderate agreement between the NEST and the two screening tools, STRONGkids (κ=0.472) and STAMP (κ=0.416) for patients on initial screening at admission. 87.2% of patient episodes were NEST compliant within 24 hours of admission to hospital. Conclusion: The moderate agreement between these two already validated screening tools enhances the NEST's validity as a paediatric screening tool. The NEST had the strongest correlation with the SGNA tool compared to other screening tools. The NEST is user friendly screening tool for hospitalised children.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.406-417
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• 2022

Purpose: The incidence of chronic diseases is increasing and the age of onset is decreasing in South Korea. Healthy eating habits to prevent chronic diseases are established in adolescence. This study verified the identified factors and dynamics that affect diet self-assessment for sustainable adolescent health and the prevention of chronic diseases. Methods: Data were collected from 492 middle and high school students in South Korea from June to July 2018, and the participants answered a questionnaire on dietary safety management competency for sustainable health. Results: The healthy dietary self-assessment scores of overweight/obese adolescents and adolescents who perceived their health as normal were significantly lower than those of other groups. Factor analysis verified the validity of the items that comprised each study area before a multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the factors affecting healthy dietary self-assessment. Sweet and salty diets, anxiety, food and nutrition knowledge, weight management knowledge, stress management, exercise, basic eating habits, and healthy eating habits significantly affected healthy dietary assessment among adolescents. A higher perception of one's health indicated a higher healthy dietary self-assessment, dietary safety knowledge, and health management practice scores (p < 0.01). Factors like healthy dietary self-assessment, food and nutrition knowledge, and weight management knowledge appear to have a significant correlation with other identified factors, except overeating. The adolescents' awareness, knowledge, and dietary safety practices influenced healthy dietary self-assessment, which can prevent chronic diseases and achieve sustainable health. Conclusion: This study illustrated how the adolescents' awareness, knowledge, and practices of dietary safety influenced their healthy diet self-assessment. The results indicate that diet-based health management competency education relative to the adolescents' self-perception and weight levels should be implemented.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.104-113
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze high-sugar food consumption habits frequency among elementary school students, and their correlations with eating habits and sweet taste assessment. Methods: The participants of the study were 164 elementary school students in Daegu, in the fifth or sixth grade, along with their parents. A questionnaire investigated eating habits, high-sugar food consumption habits and frequency, and sweet taste assessment. Results: The average eating habits score for elementary school students was determined to be 71.7 out of 100. Students with higher eating habits scores had lower high-sugar food consumption habits and frequency compared to those with lower eating habits scores. Sweet taste assessment revealed that students who preferred less sweetness chose a 5% sugar concentration, those with a preference for normal sweetness chose a 10% sugar concentration, and those who preferred sweeter tastes chose a 20% sugar concentration. Sweet taste assessment showed that students who tended to prefer less sweetness had the highest eating habits scores and the lowest scores for high-sugar food consumption habits and frequency. In addition, eating habits scores were found to be negatively correlated with high-sugar food consumption habits, high-sugar food consumption frequency, and sweet taste assessment. The sweet taste assessment was positively correlated with high-sugar food consumption habits and frequency. Conclusions: Our results indicate that students with good eating habits had more desirable overall sugar intake habits, and when the preference for sweetness was high, the frequency of high-sugar food consumption was also high. Our study highlights the importance of educating elementary school students and their parents about the harmful effects of excessive sugar consumption, as well as the benefits of adopting healthy eating habits and creating supportive environments.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2003

The National Nutrition Survey in Japan (NNS-J) started in 1945 and has provided information on dietary intake and health status of Japanese citizens to the public and policymakers for more than half a century. We summarized several relevant issues on the survey in this report : the current framework of the NNS-J in accordance with the Nutrition Improvement Law, utilization of the survey for nutrition and health policy in Japan, the Health Promotion Law recently enacted in 2003, the national plan for health promotion and disease prevention (Health Japan 21), and possible measures to improve the survey systems under the new law. We also mentioned implementation structures of regional health and nutrition surveys, because the Health Promotion Law designates an active role of local governments on promoting health for their citizens, which will enhance the needs for appropriate assessment of health and nutrition conditions in each community as well as the monitoring at the national level. (J Community Nutrition 5(2) : 59-64,2003)

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.12-26
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• 2000

In Japan, a new nursing insurance system was enforced in April 2000, where premiums were paid according to the level of necessary care. Our project, Nutrition Care and Management(NCM) for the elderly was started in 1995, funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan. The NCM project was to provide appropriate nutrition care for the elderly and to see that it effectively functions as part of the health care services. There were 4 stages to the project : the first stage was to find out the PEM status among the elderly patients in hospital and home-care settings in Japan. The 2nd stage was to develop and evaluate nutritional assessment methods, anthropometry, resting energy expenditure measuring methods using of portable indirect calorimeter, and the convenient protein energy intake assessment methods, etc. for the elderly patients with PEM risk. The 3rd stage was to examine the effectiveness of the nutrition care plan induced of protein energy supplement and team care in improving nutrition among the elderly patients. The last stage was to develop the NCM set for the elderly patient based on the past three years of scientific evidence. it is expected that the NCM system for the elderly will provide adequate nutritional care management, improve the elderly care environment and create effective resource management.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.555-564
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the assessment of salty taste and high-salt dietary behaviors of Korean university students and their Chinese counterparts. The researchers developed a taste assessment computer program focusing on preference for salty taste, and it was applied to 300 university students, including 100 Korean students, and 100 Chinese students in Daegu of South Korea, and 100 Chinese students in Shenyang of China (144 males and 156 females). The results of the taste assessment of Chinese and Korean university students are as follows. Among males, Koreans (36.0%), Chinese students in Korea (36.2%), and Chinese (40.4%) scored highest in the "a bit salty" followed by "normal." Among females, Koreans (36.0%), Chinese students in Korea (49.1%), and Chinese (28.3%) scored highest in the "normal". In terms of salt concentration in solution, among the male subjects, most Koreans favored the salt concentration of 0.31%, which is considered to be a "normal" concentration; most Chinese students in Korea favored 0.63%, which is considered to be "a bit salty", and most Chinese favored the concentration of 1.25%, which is considered to be "salty". As for the female subjects, Koreans, Chinese students studying abroad, and Chinese favored 0.31%, the "normal" level of concentration. Korean students scored higher than Chinese students in Korea and Chinese students both in males and females (p < 0.001, p < 0.01), in terms of high-salt dietary behaviors favored salty taste. This study suggests that Chinese university students need nutrition education in terms of modifying eating behaviors to reduce dietary salt intake.