• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.213-224
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• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the nutritional status and prevalence of malnutrition in hospitalized children at admission and during hospitalization in South Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This first cross-sectional nationwide "Pediatric Nutrition Day (pNday)" survey was conducted among 872 hospitalized children (504 boys, 368 girls; 686 medical, 186 surgical) from 23 hospitals in South Korea. Malnutrition risk was screened using the Pediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score (PYMS) and the Screening Tool Risk on Nutritional status and Growth. Nutritional status was assessed by z-scores of weight-for-age for underweight, weight-for-height for wasting, and height-for-age for stunting as well as laboratory tests. RESULTS: At admission, of the 872 hospitalized children, 17.2% were underweight, and the prevalence of wasting and stunting was 20.2% and 17.3%, respectively. During hospitalization till pNday, 10.8% and 19.6% experienced weight loss and decreased oral intake, respectively. During the aforementioned period, fasting was more prevalent in surgical patients (7.5%) than in medical patients (1.6%) (P < 0.001). According to the PYMS, 34.3% and 30% of the children at admission and on pNday, respectively, had a high-risk of malnutrition, requiring consultation with the nutritional support team (NST). However, only 4% were actually referred to the NST during hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition was prevalent at admission and during hospitalization in pediatric patients, with many children experiencing weight loss and poor oral intake. To improve the nutritional status of hospitalized children, it is important to screen and identify all children at risk of malnutrition and refer malnourished patients to the multidisciplinary NST for proper nutritional interventions.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.70-79
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• 2024

Backgrounds/Aims: After pancreatoduodenectomy (PD), an early oral diet is recommended; however, the postoperative nutritional management of PD patients is known to be highly variable, with some centers still routinely providing parenteral nutrition (PN). Some patients who receive PN experience clinically significant complications, underscoring its judicious use. Using a large cohort, this study aimed to determine the proportion of PD patients who received postoperative nutritional support (NS), describe the nature of this support, and investigate whether receiving PN correlated with adverse perioperative outcomes. Methods: Data were extracted from the Recurrence After Whipple's study, a retrospective multicenter study of PD outcomes. Results: In total, 1,323 patients (89%) had data on their postoperative NS status available. Of these, 45% received postoperative NS, which was "enteral only," "parenteral only," and "enteral and parenteral" in 44%, 35%, and 21% of cases, respectively. Body mass index < 18.5 kg/m² (p = 0.03), absence of preoperative biliary stenting (p = 0.009), and serum albumin < 36 g/L (p = 0.009) all correlated with receiving postoperative NS. Among those who did not develop a serious postoperative complication, i.e., those who had a relatively uneventful recovery, 20% received PN. Conclusions: A considerable number of patients who had an uneventful recovery received PN. PN is not without risk, and should be reserved for those who are unable to take an oral diet. PD patients should undergo pre- and postoperative assessment by nutrition professionals to ensure they are managed appropriately, and to optimize perioperative outcomes.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.58-67
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• 2007

For the rapidly growing elderly population, the achievement and maintenance of good nutritional status is critical to health, functioning and quality of life. Elderly women living alone have been identified as a group associated with poor nutrition. The purpose of this study was to assess dietary intakes of elderly women living alone as compared to those of elderly women living with family in a rural area and to examine seasonal variation. The subjects are 49 elderly women living alone and 41 elderly women living with family who reside in Goryeong-gun, Gyeongbuk, and their food intakes were assessed once each time in summer 2005, winter 2005-2006, and spring 2006. The average ages were 74.7 years for living alone and 72.8 years for living with family. Education level was not different between the two groups. Height, weight, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and fasting blood glucose were not significantly different between the two groups. Average intakes of major nutrients, nutrient adequacy ratio, mean adequacy ratio and index of nutritional quality were lower in the elderly women living alone compared with the elderly women living with family in summer, but the differences in intakes of most nutrients became insignificant both in winter and in spring. High carbohydrate and low fat diet was prevalent and intakes of carbohydrate and fat in summer deviated from macronutrient acceptable distribution ranges. Percentages of the subjects who consumed energy less than 75% of the estimated energy requirement and nutrients less than the estimated average requirement were higher than those reported by the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In summer, the percentage of the subjects who consumed energy less than both 75% of the estimated energy requirement and 4 nutrients less than estimated average requirements was 58.5% of the elderly women living alone, which was higher than 26.5% of the elderly women living with family and that of National Nutrition Survey. Therefore, nutrition policies including nutrition education and support are necessary to improve nutritional status of elderly, especially elderly women living alone and should reflect regional and seasonal characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare the nutritional status of children aged 5 or under and women aged 20 to 34 years between the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK: North Korea). For the source of nutritional status of North Koreans, the DPRK 2004 Nutrition Assessment-Report of Survey Results was used. As the comparable data of South Koreans, the anthropometric data for children and women were obtained from the reports of the Korean Pediatric Society and the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, respectively. The blood hemoglobin data of South Korean women were obtained from the data file of the 2001 National Health and Nutrition Survey and analyzed. In regard to the North Korea, the Prevalence of underweight (weight for age Z-score < -2.0) in children under 12 months was about $10\sim15%$, and thereafter progressively increased until 30 to 35 months reaching 30%. In South Korea, the prevalence of underweight was less than 3% in most age groups both in boys and girls. In North Korea, the prevalence of stunting (height for age Z-score < -2.0) reached 20% in children under 12 months and increased with age over the level of 50% in children aged 54 to 59 months. In South Korea, the prevalence of stunting was less than 3% in children under 12 months and was less than 10% throughout the age groups. Maternal protein-energy malnutrition and anemia were assessed for the women aged 20 to 34 years using mid-upper arm circumference (< 22.5 cm) and blood hemoglobin level (< 12g/DL), respectively. The prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition was 39.6%, 30.7%, 31.7% in North Korea and 12.5%, 5.0%, 1.5% in South Korea fir the women in $20\sim24,\;25\sim29,\;30\sim34$ years, respectively. The prevalence of anemia in the North Korean women was about $34\sim36%$ while that in the South Korean women was $15\sim18%$. In conclusion, the disparity of nutritional status in early childhood and maternity between South Korea and North Korea is so huge that active and well-planned nutrition support policy and programs for women and children in North Korea is imperative to prepare for the future unified nation.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.938-945
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• 2004

The purposes of this study were to survey the present situation of nutrition education in junior/senior high school, to analyze the difference between the favorite subjects on students and the existing subject done by dietitians on nutrition education, and then to identify the subjects of nutritional education for junior/senior high school students. Self-administered questionnaires were given to dietitians and students and 142 of the 200 dietitians (71.0%) and 479 of the 564 students (84.9%) responded to the questionnaire on the nutritional education. According to the survey results, 76.1 % of school dietitians currently were doing nutrition education for students while the other 23.9% didn't have such education programs even though they recognized the necessity strongly. The target of nutrition education was student rather than parents or teacher generally and the principal measuring method for nutrition education effect was change of plate waste and leftover'. It was found that significant difference in the collector and source of nutritional education information between junior and senior high school dietitians (p< .05) . About ninety-eight percentage of dietitians felt that nutrition education should keep pace with meal service and this meant that almost respondent recognized the necessity of nutrition education for students. Because the most serious one among operational problems of nutrition education program was lack of enough time owing to too many affairs as dietitian, junior and senior high schools should support so that dietitians would share enough time for nutrition education. And also, a gap was existed between actual and favorite subjects on nutrition education. Significant differences existed in the following subjects; 'basic concept of food and nutrition', 'disease and nutrition', 'food culture in the world', 'cooking and culinary art', 'food of the 24 divisions of the year in the lunar calendar', 'food waste and environmental issue', 'food habit and food behavior', 'exercise and nutrition' (p< .001) 'table manner', 'food and individual sanitation', 'recommended dietary allowance' (p < .01) and 'menu planning' (p< .05) .Finally, 24 subjects of nutritional education were selected based on the survey results. These subjects would be expected to be able to contribute the effective and interesting nutrition education program for junior and senior high school students.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.162-170
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• 2011

We tested the hypothesis that an improved nutritional environment increases the size of stature sexual dimorphism (SSD) by comparing mean height changes in North and South Korean adults. For the first round of sampling, those North Korean refugees who had reached the age of 20 years before leaving North Korea were selected for the study. Then, two birth-year cohorts born between 1955 and 1959 and between 1980 and 1984 were finally selected for the analysis (383 males and 529 females). North Korean refugee mean height data were compared to the mean height of the comparable South Korean population derived from 2004 Korean size results (373 males and 429 females). The results of the analysis showed that there was no increase in mean height among the refugees, either in males or females, between the two birth-year cohorts. As a result, no change in SSD was observed between the two birth-year cohorts. In contrast, South Koreans showed a remarkable increase in height, with males having a greater increase during the corresponding 25 years. Consequently, South Korean SSD increased significantly with time. These results support the hypothesis that improved nutritional quality increases SSD.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.21-40
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• 2022

This study was conducted to survey students' current eating behavior and nutritional knowledge to provide researchers with basic data that can help students with positive, practical, and healthy eating habits. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to students of a vocational high school located in Gyeongsangnam-do. A total of 270 questionnaires were collected from a convenience sample and the data were analyzed using SPSS Version 25.0. The results are as follows. First, 57.40% of students lived with "parents," and 55.56% of students' household monthly income levels were "Low." Second, as for the eating behavior of the subjects, the students who ate 'two meals' a day showed the highest at 64.81%, 'one meal' occupied 17.41%, and those who ate one meal a day, 'School cafeteria' was the eating place most frequently mentioned (65.96%). Third, when students were classified based on their nutritional knowledge levels, "High" group comprised 37.78%, "Moderate" group 37.41%, and "Low" group 24.81% of the total students. Regarding the experience of nutrition education, 64.44% answered 'no experience of nutrition education' in the last 12 months, and among the 35.56% of students who had received nutrition education, 72.92% received the education from school teachers. Based on these results, to prevent problems with the eating habits that can occur to vocational high school students, organic cooperation between families, schools, and local communities is required. Furthermore, full support from the government is needed. In addition, more efforts are needed for practice-oriented dietary education so that nutritional knowledge can be converted into correct eating behavior.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.428-437
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop a predictive model of Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) for Korean Goose daddies - they live alone in Korea to support their families who moved overseas for children's education. Methods: Data were collected from 151 goose daddies from May to June of 2011 by using the structured self-reported questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using SAS program (version 9.2) and SAS CALIS procedure. Results: Frequency of exercise, monthly income, depression, perceived physical health, and perceived mental health had direct effects on HRQoL and Depression was the variable accounting for major total effect on HRQoL. It could be explained that predictor variables accounted for 76% of the health-related quality of life. Conclusion: In order to improve Goose daddies' HRQoL, predictive factors, such as age, exercise, nutritional status, monthly income, depression, perceived physical health, and perceived mental health, should be considered. Furthermore, should the need of the exercise and diet program, early detection of depression and the treatment for it be emphasized. Also, there is a need to establish institutional structures to support goose daddies in adversity.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2015

Purpose: We evaluated the socio-personal and clinical factors that can affect preoperative quality of life to determine how to improve preoperative quality of life in patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: The preoperative quality of life data of 200 patients (68 females and 132 males; mean age $58.9{\pm}12.6years$) with gastric cancer were analyzed according to socio-personal and clinical factors. The Korean versions of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core (QLQ) 30 and the EORTC QLQ-STO22, a gastric cancer-specific module, were used to assess quality of life. Patients were asked to complete the questionnaire preoperatively by themselves. Results: Patients with a higher academic background and stage I disease tended to have higher global health status scores. Highly educated younger men had better physical functioning scores. Highly educated and well-nourished patients with stage I cancer had higher role functioning scores. Married patients had better emotional scores. The symptom scales were affected by sex, age, education level, nutrition, and cancer stage. Conclusions: Preoperative quality of life in patients with gastric cancer can be improved by nutritional support and treatment of symptoms caused by disease progression. Psychological support may be helpful for patients with a poor quality of life.

• 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.