• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.219-223
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• 2011

Obesity has been reported to be associated with low grade inflammatory status. In this study, we investigated the inflammatory response as well as associated signaling molecules in immune cells from diet-induced obese mice. Four-week-old C57BL mice were fed diets containing 5% fat (control) or 20% fat and 1% cholesterol (HFD) for 24 weeks. Splenocytes ($1{\times}10^7$ cells) were stimulated with $10\;{\mu}g/mL$ of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 6 or 24 hrs. Production of interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, and TNF-${\alpha}$ as well as protein expression levels of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)2, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)3, and pSTAT3 were determined. Mice fed HFD gained significantly more body weight compared to mice fed control diet ($28.2{\pm}0.6$ g in HFD and $15.4{\pm}0.8$ g in control). After stimulation with LPS for 6 hrs, production of IL-$1{\beta}$ was significantly higher (P=0.001) and production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ tended to be higher (P < 0.064) in the HFD group. After 24 hrs of LPS stimulation, splenocytes from the HFD group produced significantly higher levels of IL-6 ($10.02{\pm}0.66$ ng/mL in HFD and $7.33{\pm}0.56$ ng/mL in control, P=0.005) and IL-$1{\beta}$ ($121.34{\pm}12.72$ pg/mL in HFD and $49.74{\pm}6.58$ pg/mL in control, P < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the expression levels of STAT3 and pSTAT3 between the HFD and the control groups. However, the expression level of NOD2 protein as determined by Western blot analysis was 60% higher in the HFD group compared with the control group. NOD2 contributes to the induction of inflammation by activation of nuclear factor ${\kappa}B$. These findings suggest that diet-induced obesity is associated with increased inflammatory response of immune cells, and higher expression of NOD2 may contribute to these changes.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.405-416
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• 1999

The purposes of this study were to investigate changes in serum lipid levels with age and gender, and to determine which factors affect the serum lipid profiles. The anthropometric parameters(height, weight, waist girth, hip girth) and biochemical status(cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-chol.) were measured for clinically normal adults(male 89, female 91) in Yeongdong area. The results are as follows: 1. The obesity index was significantly higher in female($115.2{\pm}15.2%$) than in male($109.9{\pm}13.4%$), but waist/hip girth ratio(WHR) was significantly higher in male ($0.89{\pm}0.05$) than in female($0.81{\pm}0.06$). 2. Male subjects had higher triglyceride and atherogenic index and lower HDL-cholesterol and relative cholesterol than those of female subjects. 3. Prevalences of hypercholesteolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypoHDL-cholesterolemia were 9.0%, 9.0%, 14.6% respectively in male and 9.9%, 2.2%, 4.4% in female. 4. WHR positively correlated with serum cholesterol, TG, LDL/HDL and A.I., and negatively correlated with HDL-chol. and relative chol. Correlation analyses indicated that WHR seemed to be more closely associated with serum lipid levels(rather than obesity index). 5. Age showed positive correlations with waist girth, WHR, cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, LDL/HDL and A.I., but negative correlations with height, body weight and relative cholesterol. 6. There was significant differences in TG concentration between drinker($169.3{\pm}130.0mg/dl$) and non-drinker($111.4{\pm}64.5mg/dl$), and smoker($165{\pm}103.6mg/dl$) and non-smoker ($110.8{\pm}39.0mg/dl$). That is to say that as risk factors for hyperlipidemia are obesity index, serum lipid concentration, life style(such as alcohol drinking and smoking) and age. Specially major risk factors are drinking, smoking and regulated exercise in male and age is an important risk factor in female.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.449-455
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was found the risk factors of cataract by gender in elder and older Korean adults. Methods: We investigated the data for 5,024 (men 2,163 people, women 2,861 people) people, aged 40-95 years, from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We divided into two groups (group 1: 40-64 years, group 2: 65-94 years). We divided into two groups (group 1: 40-64 years, group 2: 65-94 years). Cataract was decided in case of at least one eye with lens opacity. We presented significant odds ratio (OR) increase of cataract according to the obesity and socioeconomic information including house income and education level after adjusting for diabetes, hypertension, high triglyceride, outside active, smoking and drinking habits in two groups with distinction of sex. Results: House income (or education) was strongly related to the prevalence of agerelated cataract in all groups. In models adjusting for all other related factors, cataract patients with lower income and education had a higher prevalence of cataract (group1: OR, 1.84[1.17-2.91], OR, 3.00[1.90-4.74], group 2: OR, 3.47[2.53-4.74], OR, 7.44[5.41-10.23] for men. In comparison, for women, cataract patients with lower income, lower education and obesity had a higher prevalence of cataract (group1: OR, 1.72[1.14-2.60], OR, 4.48[2.72-7.38], OR, 1.40[1.10-1.82], group 2: OR, 2.32[1.70-3.16], OR, 29.99[20.31-44.28], OR, 1.27[1.04-1.54]). Conclusions: Factors of low socioeconomic status were associated with age-related cataract in Korean. Obesity-cataract association was stronger in women.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.123-139
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• 2009

This study was to investigate the body perception and dietary attitude of adolescents in relation to self-esteem. Total of 1,030 middle school students in Bucheon were participated. Data were collected from July 14 to 21, 2008. by questionnaire, and analyzed by the SPSS V. 12.0 program. The research findings were summarized as that there was considerable mismatch between perceived body shapes and actual obesity status of the subjects, 52% of the boys, 36% of the girls, and 43% of the total participants, which indicated that perception of own body shapes was distorted. The girls and obese group tended to be more unsatisfied with their body weights than boys and underweight group, respectively. The dietary attitude scores were higher in boys than girls in all obesity groups, with the obese girls the lowest score. There were differences in self-esteem scores among the obesity groups with the underweight group the highest and the obese group the lowest. Self-esteem scores of boys were higher than girls in all 4 obesity groups. The body perception and dietary attitude were correlated with self-esteem in both boys and girls. It is shown that the more negative perception on their body shape, and the worse dietary attitude they had, the lower self-esteem both the boys and girls had.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.323-333
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• 2008

The aim of this study was to measure and compare nutrient intake, anthropometric measurements and serum indices by percent body fat as one of the index of obesity degree in female college students. Additionally we attempted to investigate percentile distribution of fat free mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI) for developing reference values for these two parameters. The subjects were 91 female college students who were classified to 4 groups according to the percentile of percent body fat (Group1: 25 th < percentile of percent body fat, Group 2 : 25 th ${\le}$ percentile of percent body fat < 50 th, Group 3 : 50 th ${\le}$ percentile of percent body fat < 75 th, Group 4 : percentile of percent body fat ${\ge}$ 75 th). The mean percent body fat and body mass index were 28.2%, $20.5 kg/m^2$ respectively. The mean energy intake was 1707 kcal(81% of KDRIs) and vitamin C, folate, Ca and Zn intake were 73.9%, 54.7%, 79.6%, 97.5% of KDRIs respectively. Most nutrient intake (energy, carbohydrate, cholesterol, fatty acid, Ca, Fe) of G4 was lower than that of G1, G2 and G3. Serum HDL-cholesterol concentration was significantly lower in G4 than G1, G2, G3 and it tended to increase as percent body fat decreased. LDL/HDL, A1 of G4 were significantly the highest among the 4 groups and increased as percent body fat increased. The mean fat free mass index and fat mass index were $14.5 kg/m^2$, $6.0 kg/m^2$ respectively. The criteria of sarcopenic obesity which has been defined as under 25 th percentile of FFMI and below 75 th percentile of FMI were shown $12.8 kg/m^2$, $8.2 kg/m^2$ respectively in this study. In conclusion, we should continue to more systematically research on the studies of new obesity measurement which includes FFMI and FMI as one of the variables. And the public education for weight control that emphasizes both the understanding of body composition and the importance of nutrition balance is also required.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.170-178
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• 1990

The aim of the study was to investigate prevalence of obesity among housewives residing in apartments in Taegu city and any relationship of obesity with various factors. Hundred three housewives aged 30-49 years living in apartments (over 30 pyung) were interviewed for socio-economic status, food habit, food intake by a convenient questionnaire, and daily activity by the 24-hour recall. Their weight, height and triceps skinfold thickness were measured. The results were summarized as follows: 1) The percentages of subjects and their spouses with college and higher education were as much as 53.6% and 83.5%, respectively. The commonest family size was four members with two children. 2) The percentages of subjects classified as underweight, normal, overweight, and obesity according to relative body weight(RBW) were 4.9, 44.7, 24.3 and 26.2, respectively. Twenty four percent belonged to obese group according to body mass index(BMI$\geq$25). 3) Food habit score was 12.4 points in average and judged 'good'. The average of daily energy intake was 2247㎉ which corresponded to 112% of RDA and intakes of nutrients except iron exceeded RDA. The means of food habit score and energy intake were not significantly different among 4 groups. 4) Multiple regression analysis was tested to explain a relationship between fatness and various factors. The equation, BMI=25.216+(0.836$\times$family size)-(0.309$\times$education, years)-(0.00503$\times$household work time, minutes), indicates that fatness of housewives was related with family size(+), educational level(-) and household work time(-). These relationships were statistically significant(p<0.001) and R2 (coefficient of determination) was 0.237.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.493-504
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• 2020

Background: There have been many studies on the associations between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive function. However, no study has ever compared the associations across the methods of categorizing BMI. In this study, we aimed to fill the gap in the previous studies and examine whether the obesity paradox is valid in the risk of cognitive function. Methods: Of the 10,254 people aged 45 and older from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing from 2006 to 2016, 8,970 people were finalized as the study population. The dependent variable was whether a person has a normal cognitive function or not, and the independent variables of interest were BMI categorized by the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO-WPRO) method, the WHO method, and a 10-group method. Covariates included sociodemographic factors, health behavior factors, and health status factors. A generalized linear mixed model analysis with a logit link was used. Results: In the adjusted model with all covariates, first, in the case of BMI categories of the WHO-WPRO method, underweight (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-1.17), overweight (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.35-1.36), and obese (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.33-1.34) groups were more likely to have a normal cognitive function than a normal-weight group. Next, in the case of BMI categories of the WHO method, compared to a normal-weight group, underweight (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.14-1.16) and overweight (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.06-1.07) groups were more likely to have a normal cognitive function; however, obese (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.61-0.63) group was less likely to have it. Lastly, in the case of the 10-group method, as BMI increased, the likelihood to have a normal cognitive function changed like a wave, reaching a global top at group-7 (26.5 kg/㎡ ≤ BMI <28.0 kg/㎡). Conclusion: The associations between BMI and cognitive function differed according to how BMI was categorized among people aged 45 and older in Korea, which suggests that cognitive function may be positively associated with BMI in some categories of BMI but negatively in its other categories. Health policies to reduce cognitive impairment need to consider this association between BMI and cognitive function.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.228-240
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Cocoa consumption is associated with health benefits due to its high content of polyphenols. However, the effects of short-term cocoa consumption remain unclear. We aimed to determine the effects generated by cocoa consumption (for 7 days) in young adults in normoweight and class II obesity. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Before-and-after study was carried out in normoweight (NW) (n = 15) and class II obesity (CIIO) (n = 15) young adults. The NW and CIIO participants consumed 25 and 39 g of cocoa, respectively, per day for 7 days. The effect of cocoa consumption was evaluated on the lipid profile, insulin resistance (IR), and inflammation. Oxidative damage was also examined by assessing the biomarkers of oxidative damage in plasma. In addition, recombinant human insulin was incubated with blood obtained from the participants, and the molecular damage to the hormone was analyzed. RESULTS: Cocoa consumption resulted in decreased low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol in both groups (P = 0.04), while the total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were maintained at the recommended levels. Initially, IR was detected in the CIIO group (homeostasis model assessment [HOMA] = 4.78 ± 0.4), which is associated with molecular damage to insulin. Interestingly, intervention with cocoa resulted in improved IR (HOMA = 3.14 ± 0.31) (P = 0.0018) as well as molecular damage to insulin. Finally, cocoa consumption significant decreased the arginase activity (P = 0.0249) in the CIIO group; this is a critical enzymatic activity in the inflammatory process associated with obesity. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term consumption of cocoa improves the lipid profile, exerts anti-inflammatory effects, and protects against oxidative damage. Results of this study indicate that cocoa consumption can potentially improve IR and restore a healthy redox status.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.138-152
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• 2005

Purposes: The purposes of this study are to investigate the definition, components, prevalence, and associated factors of metabolic syndrome and suggest the management strategies for workers. Method: This study was conducted by literature review. Results: Metabolic syndrome by the NCEP-ATP III is the clustering of three or more of five conditions: abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low levels of HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high glucose(blood sugar). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome by modified NCEP-ATP III in South Korean workers was about 20 to 25%. Metabolic syndrome is caused by many associated factors, namely, age, family history, socioeconomic status, job strain, shift work, psychosocial distress, bad health behaviprs and so on. Conclusions: To prevent metabolic syndrome at worksites, multifactorial risk factor assessments and preventive approaches are required. Socioeconomic factors such as education, working status should be nationally importantly considered for the health inequality of workers. Occupational health nurse, at first, can start weight control, smoking cessation program. stress management, the improvement of work environment. Next stage, early diagnosis and treatment for metabolic risk group can be performed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 1979

This study was conducted to find out the most suitable weight-height index out of the $weight/height^{p}-type$ indices that could be used for the evaluation of nutritional status in an epidemiological survey and for the screening of the obesity. The subjects were chosen randomly, 2,182 males and 719 females from college students and office workers in Seoul districts. The 'best' power-type weight-height index for Korean men and women of all ages from 16 to 59 was found to be $weight/height^{1.54}$ for males and $weight/height^{1.42}$ for females. $Weight/height^2$ (Kaup index), however, was the best suited weight-height index for each age group of both sexes except that relative weight (weight/height) was considered to be desirable to apply for males of teen-aged and of over fifties and for females of over forties of age. Normal ranges of Kaup index values for males and females of each age group were presented in tables 5 and 6. These findings suggest that Koreans are generally leaner than other ethnic groups of the same sex and age.