• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2189-2198
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• 2012

This study was designed to measure the difference in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among social classes and explore the factors that may explain it. Study subjects were 7,992 Korean adults aged 20-69 from the 4th (2007-2009) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys data. We described mean value of EQ-5D index as a HRQOL by class and performed hierarchical multiple regression analysis to find the factors. The result was as follows. In the distribution of EQ-5D index level among social classes, new middle class (class II) had the highest score (0.966 in men and 0.955 in women); upper and middle-upper class (class I) 0.965 in men and 0.936 in women; working class (class IV) 0.958 in men and 0.936 in women; old middle class (class III) 0.955 in men and 0.932 in women; low class (class VI) 0.941 in men and 0.908 in women; and rural self-management class (class V) the lowest score (0.918 in men and 0.866 in women). In men, chronic disease, job stress, education and income level were found to make the difference in the health-related quality of life among social classes; in women, those factors and health behavior explained the difference. In conclusion, the lower social class has lower HRQOL. Except for education and income level, chronic disease may be the major factor to explain the difference in the health-related quality of life among social classes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.284-290
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• 2001

Objectives : To evaluate the association of snoring and hyper-tension in a rural population. Methods : A population-based sample of 1,763 adults in Chonnam, Korea was investigated with questionnaires and height, weight, and blood pressure measurements. Information on the demographic characteristics, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension and snoring was collected through a person-to-person interview using a structured questionnaire. The level of obesity was measured by the body mass index(BMI). Hypertension was considered to be present if the average of two blood pressure measurements was greater than 140mmHg systolic or 90mmHg diastolic, or if they were currently on antihypertensive treatment. Results : The prevalence of snoring was 42.7% in men and 39.8% in women. With regard to age, snoring prevalence was 44.3% in the middle-aged group(45 to 64 years), greater than 33.9% in the younger(<45 years) group or 38.7% in the elderly($\geq65$ years) group. The snoring prevalence increased progressively with increasing BMI, but cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption was not associated with snoring. Hypertension occurred more frequently in snorers than in non-snorers (Odds ratio: 1.25, 95% confidence interval : 1.01-1.55). However after adjusting for sex, age, obesity, smoking, and alcohol use, an effect of snoring on hypertension was no longer present (Odds ratio: 1.13, 95% confidence interval = 0.90-1.41). Conclusion : These results suggest that snoring might not be associated with hypertension.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.351-360
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• 2012

Background: Identification of reliable predictors of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) will enable healthcare providers to intervene and change the patterns of LTPA in the population to improve community health. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine prevalence and pattern of LTPA among adult Saudis aged 18-65 years, and to define the socio-demographic determinants that correlate with LTPA in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 2176 adult Saudis attending urban and rural primary health care centers were selected using a multistage proportionate sampling method. Participants were personally interviewed to gather information regarding socio-demographics, physical activity pattern using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Physical activity (PA) in each domain was expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs). Results: The median total METs minutes/week for LTPA for both genders was 256, higher for men (636 METs minutes/week) compared to women (249METs minutes/week). Overall, only 19.8% of the total PA was derived from LTPA. Of the sampled population 50.0% reported doing no leisure activity. Using the cut off of 600 METs-minutes/day or 150 minutes of moderate intensity over 5 or more days/week, only 21.0% of the included sample were considered as being sufficiently active and 10.4% were in the high active category with beneficial health effects. Multivariate regression analysis showed that male, younger age (<35 years), absence of chronic disease conditions and moderate level of total PA were significant predictors for being active in the LTPA domain. Conclusion: The prevalence and intensity of LTPA among the included sample demonstrated low levels. Nearly 80% of the included sample population did not achieve the recommended LTPA level with beneficial health effects. Female gender, urban residence and associated chronic diseases correlated with a low LTPA.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.203-211
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• 2010

The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the perceived management performance and importance level of nutrition teachers by school administrators in the Chonbuk area. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 142 school administrators. Statistical data analysis was completed using SPSS v. 12.0. Approximately 74.6% of the subjects were men. About 37% of subjects were principals, 33% were vice principals, and 35% were administrative directors, with over 60% aged 40~50 years(p<0.05). Among the 142 schools evaluated, 82.7% were located in urban areas and 17.3% were in rural areas. About 98% of the schools served meals in the dining room(p<0.05). Approximately 68% of the schools employed nutrition teachers and 33.4% had school dietitians(p<0.001). The result indicated that the overall importance level(4.24) was higher than the performance level(3.97)(p<0.001). In a survey of the degree of task performance by nutrition teachers, administrators regarded sanitation management was evaluated as the most important performance parameter(4.49), other management attributes as very important parameters(4.41), with nutrition counseling being much less important(2.76) and meal service being least important(3.29; except for classroom teachers). According to the title of the subjects, evaluations of administrative directors were lower than evaluations of principals and the vice principals. The results indicate that nutrition teachers should not only have meal service management as their main duty, but should also be involved in constructing a life-long health management system for students and teachers by conducting nutrition education and counseling, and should be active in the development of nutrition education programs and in the duties of sanitation management of school meals.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.248-253
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• 2019

Early diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can reduce the incidence of dementia. This study developed the MCI prediction model for the elderly in Korea. The subjects of this study were 3,240 elderly (1,502 men, 1,738 women) aged 65 and over who participated in the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Aging (KLoSA) in 2012. Outcome variables were defined as MCI prevalence. Explanatory variables were age, marital status, education level, income level, smoking, drinking, regular exercise more than once a week, average participation time of social activities, subjective health, hypertension, diabetes Respectively. The prediction model was developed using Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM) neural network. As a result, age, sex, final education, subjective health, marital status, income level, smoking, drinking, regular exercise were significant predictors of MCI prediction model of rural elderly people in Korea using RBM neural network. Based on these results, it is required to develop a customized dementia prevention program considering the characteristics of high risk group of MCI.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1-16
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• 2005

The present study is designed to provide basic data for the future health promotion projects to be aimed at improving quality of life for the elderly people in the increasingly aging society of Korea by investigating factors related to the yangseng of old people in rural areas. The results of this study are intended to serve as fundamental for efficient approach toward health promotion projects for the elderly in rural communities. For this purpose, a survey by questionnaires was conducted to rural inhabitants from May to June 2004. The replies were analyzed from the perspective of Oriental medicine for yangseng. 1. The average points of health care appeared to be 3.24. In details by sub-areas, morality was 3.79, followed by 3.74 for activities and rest, 3.73 for sleeping, 3.29 for diet, 3.25 for mind, 2.88 for season, 2.12 for exercise and 1.95 for sexual life in sequence, showing that the yangseng of morality was scored highest while the area of sexual life were rated lowest. 2. As for the extent of health care depending on the characters of the subjects, spoused ones, married couples living alone, while the higher educated and the more leisure is utilized, the more the care is paid for yangseng. 3. Concerning the extent of yangseng depending on the general characters of the subjects, men showed more yangseng in activities and rest. The group aged 70 to 74 acquired the highest points in mind yangseng. The group with spouse featured higher concern for yangseng in the categories of morality, diet, activities and rest, sleeping and sexual life. Married couples who are living with no other family members recorded the highest points in the areas of morality, diet, sleeping and sexual life(P<0.05). 4. In terms of socioeconomic characters, the more one is educated, the more he/she is tended to take yangseng in the exercise, sleeping and sexual life. The group with occupation is inclined to take more yangseng in the activities and rest and sleeping. When people have to work for their keep, they usually showed to have highest yangseng for sleeping. People who enjoy leisure showed higher yangseng in all areas except for morality. In case man has religion, he showed more yangseng in the activities and rest, exercise and sleeping(P<0.05). 5. Those who reply they are confident with health showed higher yangseng. No significant difference was found in all areas except for sexual life in which high care is taken for yangseng, as far as one has no disease. Those who are confident with health had highest yangseng in all areas except for season yangseng(P<0.05). As seen above, extents of yangseng by the old people in the rural area are found to have difference depending on the individual and socioeconomic characters, factors which should be seriously considered in the local health promotion projects and projects for the health of the elderly. Particularly important is to launch health promotion programs and to analyze their effects to promote health care particularly in the areas of sexual life, exercise and season yangseng that turned out to be lowest by taking into account of yangseng in each sub-area.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.7-16
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• 2014

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to target Chinese consumers of Korean agri-food through the analysis of agri-food brand identity images to set future directions for proposed agri-food exports to China. Since negotiations began for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and China, some Koreans have worried about the Korean agriculture sector. The world trading system has undergone many changes in recent years. Since the start of FTA negotiations on agriculture, China and Korea have faced a heightened sense of crisis. China is trying to export agricultural products so actively that its agricultural exports could increase by more than 7% annually. China exported about one-tenth of its agricultural products to Korea in the period 2002-2010. Recently, the importance of brand identity has tended to increase, as the world becomes one unified market. In this situation, we should try to promote agri-food exports to China. It is very important to understand consumers' recognition of Korean food and the image of the Korean agri-food industry, to establish an export strategy. Research design, data, and methodology - This study targeted 2,800 adult men and women aged 25-59 years living in four major cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Qingdao) with a household income within the top 10% level in the China, using the one-to-one interview survey method. In addition, four groups by region (eight people per group) for a total of 32 groups were surveyed by using the focus group interview (FGI) research method, and impressions of imported agri-food were surveyed using 17 questions about fresh agri-food and 22 questions on processed agri-food. Factor analysis, brand positioning, biplot analysis, and so on, were carried out based on the results of these surveys. This research presents the brand identity of Korean food; according to the analyses, the brand identity is based on trust, safety, and attractiveness. Result - Factor analysis results showed that Chinese consumers expect four major qualities in imported fresh agri-food: freshness/safety, attractive appearance, premium branding, and excellent taste/quality. In the case of processed agri-food, it turned out that Chinese consumers are focused on safety/hygiene/freshness, health, and taste. In addition, in the fresh agri-food analysis by country, American foods had the upper hand; the image of American foods was also recognized as the most positive for processed agri-food. Meanwhile, according to the biplot analysis, Korean agri-food is strongly preferred for its appearance, but no country is strongly preferred as regards the level of freshness/safety that is expected by Chinese consumers. Conclusions - In this study, we analyzed the image of imported agri-food expected by Chinese consumers by reconstructing agri-food characteristics from the brand perspective. The research result shows that a Korean brand identity must be the ultimate goal for activities undertaken to enhance the image of Korean agri-food in the future. Additional research is needed because brand image can be formed through various channels.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.465-474
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the association between the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and the cognitive functions in Korean elderly. Methods: The subjects were 393 adults aged 60 years or older who participated in the Yangpyeong cohort between July 2009 and August 2010. The subjects were classified into deficiency, insufficiency, or adequacy groups according to the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration diagnostic criteria suggested by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM). The cognitive function was assessed based on the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-KC). The dietary intake was assessed using the quantitative food frequency questionnaire with 106 food items. Results: The proportions of deficiency, insufficiency, or adequacy in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D were 6.6%, 44.5%, and 48.9%, respectively. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was significantly higher in men than in women and in outdoor workers than in other occupations. The adequacy group had higher MMSE-KC scores than the other two groups, but not to a significant degree. The proportion of cognitive impairment tended to decrease with increasing serum vitamin D concentration to deficiency, insufficiency, and adequacy (p for trend = 0.029). The deficiency group had a 2.28 times higher risk of cognitive impairment than the adequacy group, but the difference was not statistically significant (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 0.18 ~ 1.07, p for trend = 0.119). Conclusion: The serum vitamin D concentration tended to be associated with the cognitive function in elderly Koreans living in rural areas. To confirm the associations, further longitudinal studies with large samples were required.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.263-273
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• 2006

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the trend of health statue of the elderly living in rural area according to drinking patterns. Methods: This study was conducted with 2,421 elderly people (male 1,273 and female 1,148) residing in the selected 25 villages, with exclusion of a few elderly people who were in hospital, out for a long time or had an unknown address. This study were carried out, face-to-face interviews with the subjects were made from January to March 2002. Results: The investigation of drinking state showed that for male subjects, drinkers accounted for 48.8%, nondrinkers 35.1% and abstainers from drinking 16.1%, whereas for female subjects, drinkers accounted 15.3%, nondrinkers 80.2% and abstainers from drinking 4.5%. The health status was analyzed according to drinking pattern. For elderly men, abstainers from drinking showed worse health state than nondrinkers and drinkers. Elderly women showed the same result. It is widely known that drinking are the important causes of chronic diseases. Therefore, it is needed to provide the elderly with education on control of preventable health risk factors and effect of living state on health, in order to prevent aggravation of health level of the elder population aged 65 and over. This will also help them promote their health. It will be desirable that for the elderly, the objective will focus on health promotion rather than treatment of diseases. Conclusions: Carry out health plan for rural communities and health maintenance programs and health promotion of the elderly in those communities shall be developed. In addition, preventive education and health examination shall be conducted more frequently with the elderly who drink but are still healthy.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.146-157
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• 2009

Korean diet is high in plant foods but also high in salted vegetables. World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) recommends consumption of fruits and vegetables excluding salted vegetables for prevention cancer. This study aimed to analyze relations between intakes of salted and non-salted vegetables and socioeconomic factors, providing a data for targeted groups in promotion of fruits and vegetables consumption. Dietary and socioeconomic status data of the 5,400 subjects over 30 years of age from the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANESIII) were used. Dietary intake data from KNHANESIII was obtained by one day 24-hour recall method. Mean daily intakes of salted vegetables, non-salted vegetables and fruits of subjects were 151 g, 237 g, and 71 g respectively. Mean daily intake of salted vegetables was significantly higher in men than women for daily amount (173 g vs. 133 g) as well as percentage of total food intake (9.9% vs. 9.6%). Subjects living in rural area consumed more salted vegetables. Salted vegetables as percent of total food were lower in subjects with higher education levels (p < 0.001). Intakes of non-salted vegetables were significantly affected by age and gender. Intake levels of fruit were significantly higher in younger groups, in females, and subjects with higher income and education levels (p < 0.05). Average intake of fruits and non-salted vegetables was 307 g, lower than WCRF recommended level of 400 g for personal guideline. Intake of salted vegetables was positively correlated with sodium intake (Pearson's correlation coefficient, r = 0.43) but less so with potassium (r = 0.16) and other micronutrients intake (r < 0.1). On the other hand, non-salted vegetables had higher correlations with potassium (r = 0.45), carotene (r = 0.38), vitamin A (r = 0.37), iron (r = 0.34) and low for sodium (r = 0.13). Fruits intake was highly correlated with vitamin C intake (r = 0.46). Proportion of subjects satisfying WCRF personal guideline of fruits and non-salted vegetables was 25.7%. Results of this study indicate that intake of salted vegetable is considerably high among Koreans, and it is highly correlated with sodium intake and less so with other micronutrients.